Covenant
by Tanoshiix3
Summary: Covenant/Rebirth: Covenant. When a foreign prince breaks an ancient pact between Man and Gods, Link must rise again and protect humanity from his act of betrayal - before the insulted goddesses unleash their wrath upon all. Complete.
1. Prologue

**Hello, and welcome to ****_Covenant/Rebirth_****, otherwise known as my practice novel! Written over the course of 5 years (2009 - 2013), ****_Covenant/Rebirth_**** is the first novel I've ever put this much effort into. Being a "practice novel" it was written so that I could improve my writing style. Feel free to read through and see if you're interested - and don't forget to leave reviews! :D**

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**~ Prologue ~**

The dirt sprinkled back to the ground as it slipped from Zelda's palm.

She watched it silently, as if it were the first time she had seen dirt. When the last of it rained to the ground, she ran her hand along the patch of soil. Upon bringing her hand back to her face, she stared at the grains of dust that now clung to her fingertips.

Then, she let it sprinkle back to the earth.

This very dirt she was standing on—this very dirt that she continuously held and let go of within her hands—was the same dirt that Ganondorf's corpse had collapsed on.

It was so surreal to her, like a dream that she was sure that her ancestors must have had night after night. The dream of being able to finally purge Ganon's evil presence from their home, and the dream of seeing peace amongst her people.

Zelda clenched her empty fist and punched the ground with enough force to send some particles of dust flying into the air. She opened her fist and dug her fingers into the dirt, grabbing a fistful of it, and glared daggers at the ground.

She wanted to believe it - she wanted to believe it so desperately that it almost pained her sometimes. But within her was a dire feeling of what was to come, and that she had not seen everything through.

But she most definitely had: she had fired her Light arrows at Ganondorf, stunning him long enough for Link to come in and slash at him, then break away before the Evil King could counter. She had watched as the hero single-handedly fought and succeeded at defeating Ganon, and watched, mesmerized as he delivered the final blow.

Then she stood, watching Ganondorf breathe his last.

She stood, and watched as the Triforce of Power parted ways with its dying owner.

She had seen _every_ detail of his defeat.

But for some reason, it wasn't enough. It boggled her mind whenever she wondered why she was unconvinced. The situation was so irking, so constant that she had to restrain from yelling in frustration at times when she thought about it.

Zelda closed her eyes, breathing deeply as she searched the soil beneath her. The only thing she could hear was the underground critters doing their daily business, the gentle, reassuring breeze and the anxious rhythm of her heartbeat. She focused on hearing the sound of breathing—there was none but her own.

_He's_ _gone._

She opened her eyes, her face still cut into a scowl.

_Accept it._


	2. Chapter 1

**I do not own Twilight Princess; all Zelda characters belong to Nintendo. All original characters/countries belong to me. Please don't steal D;**

**Also note: Apologies for the length. The chapters get more manageable I promise D;**

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**Chapter One**

Zelda signed her name swiftly and neatly on another tedious form and slid it to a great pile on the right side of her desk. Today she was again going through paperwork: signing documents, approving or disapproving of conflicts within her country, and going through papers on information of neighborly countries, their status and how their relations with Hyrule were going.

She picked up another stack of paper and looked at what the first document was announcing. She skimmed through it, her eyes picking out the pertinent information, and a hint of annoyance flashed in her eyes. Once again a crime had been committed, and once again she was to attend the hearing.

She picked up the sheet of paper, finding it to be clipped together with details of the crime and a few pages filled with the punishments for crimes related to whatever this denizen had done. Zelda ignored these pages and rummaged through the packet until she found what crime had been committed.

She set aside all of the papers that had been clipped to the hearing notice and began to read the information abhorrently. She could not remember a time when she was informed of this sort of crime during her lifetime, nor were there any records of it happening in her parents or her grandparents' rule either.

She continued reading, however was not taking in a single word of the notice. Her mind was racing, each thought overlapping one another repeatedly. She rubbed her temples absentmindedly, her eyes distant in thought, then jolted and almost fell out of her seat when her office door was slammed open.

"Princess," gasped the soldier who had burst in. "I am terribly sorry to interrupt—forgive me."

Zelda organized her papers on the desk, setting the hearing notice aside for later investigation before addressing her intruder with a stoical air. "What is it?"

"Ah…the postman your Highness…" the soldier answered. "We tried to say that you were busy but he insisted, saying that he had some letters for you, along with some…intelligence."

The soldier held his breath for a moment and then stepped aside to show the postman standing behind him.

In the mail carrier's hands were quite a few letters, their sight resulting in Zelda wishing that she had been born a commoner, rather than a high noble. The soldier excused himself, pushing past the postman and returning to his post.

The postman took another step into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He bowed, taking off his hat to reveal a large bald spot before replacing it and standing upright once more.

"Greetings, and good afternoon your Highness," he announced. "I come with a few letters for you, this one being from the fortune teller." He held out the letter to her, smiling broadly.

Zelda nodded and took the letter from him. For as long as she could remember, this postman had always delivered messages and mail to everyone throughout Hyrule.

Zelda had never looked into whether he had other supporters or if he worked alone. All she knew was that when she was a mere child, she had been slightly appalled whenever he had arrived to deliver a letter to her parents.

His looks hadn't changed much.

Zelda slid the letter out of its purple, scented envelope and began to read:

_Madame Fanadi knows of your worries young leader, she knows of your concerns. Why don't you come down and let me __have a look at what your future holds and if your suspicions are true?_

To the postman's utmost surprise, Zelda crumpled the letter in her fist. She narrowed her eyes at the little ball, wishing she could set it aflame.

Although she had been much bothered by the defeat of the Evil King, Zelda was not in the mood for having a fortuneteller pressing into her business. To the Princess she seemed more like a con artist, feigning her appearance as a seer just to gain money.

It was a behavior similar to the emcee of the STAR game, whom Zelda had recently gotten rid of. The townspeople had been grateful for that.

She wondered if they would be grateful if she did the same to Fanadi.

Out of the corner of her eye Zelda noticed the postman shifting his weight from foot to foot, unsure of what to say or do. Zelda tossed the paper ball into the bin beside her desk, pretending that the incident had never occurred.

"Postman," she announced firmly.

The postman stood upright at her commanding voice, managing to utter a soft and panicky response.

"Place the other letters on my desk."

The postman obeyed.

"Now, if I have heard correctly you also have information to give to me?"

"Yes, your Highness," the mailman answered.

"Speak."

The postman nodded, clearing his throat, hesitant on how to say what he had to say. He kept his large eyes focused on Zelda respectfully as he addressed her: "There was a murder not too long ago," he declared slowly, fearing his ruler's reaction.

Zelda contained herself however, only allowing her eyes to widen in shock. She searched her memories for a moment, trying to remember if she had seen any documents on a murder; she could recall nothing.

"Apparently it was one of the Generals of the Hyrulean army."

Zelda cracked.

"What?"

"Y-yes," the postman continued cautiously, unsure if he should continue, but he went on regardless. "The murder was not documented as you most likely already know because it was done in secrecy… I was traveling at night when I had witnessed the General's demise.

"He was killed on the road and his body was hidden. It was found in the stable beside his relative's household…who happened to be the governor of one of the neighboring lands. The governor was arrested, regardless of my testimony, for having the dead body within his possession. His land is very strict when it came to murder: he was the one who made the law of being put into jail for having custody of a corpse…rather serious backfire if I say so myself. As for whom the murderers were…" He paused.

"They blended with the night. As dark as dark can be…"

Zelda's heart was racing a mile a minute. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, mulling over the information that had been given to her and nodded, urging him to continue.

"I believe a soldier was sent to give news to the General's son about this, and inform him of taking his father's place," the postman went on, "however, I am unaware of whether or not he has arrived yet. Currently the governor is going through trial."

Zelda found herself wondering the same question once again: why now of all times? The General's secret murder, the governor's stable happening to be the place his corpse was found…it was difficult to consider it all.

The postman politely dismissed himself, declaring that he would return to inform her of any other secret murders. Once he was gone, Zelda was left in silence.

She returned to her work, disregarding the hearing notice for now and reading through manuscripts and other things, sometimes wandering around the small room to find a book filled with guidelines so that she knew how to react and respond to certain notices.

After hours of reading, her eyes became weary and she could no longer focus on what the papers were telling her. She stood, exiting the office and strolled around the castle.

Through the many windows that Zelda passed, she could see the sun sinking behind the hills. She could remember it clearly, even though it had been many a month since the battle: the sun was in that very same position…

Zelda shook her head, tearing her eyes away from the beautiful scenery. Her walk was not a walk for her to think about the things that had happened. The Evil King was dead, and she had no right to continue worrying. However, in spite of her not wanting to think about it, she searched herself for a distinct reason on her worries.

A part of her believed that it might have been a bit too easy. If the current Hero was capable of destroying the Evil King, then why didn't the first Hero do it? No, he had sealed him away, believing that Ganondorf would be locked up forever. Zelda wondered if her ancestors rued the day that they had sealed Ganondorf in the Evil Realm as they watched the consequences from the heavens.

"Is it possible to have regrets in death?" a voice within her whispered.

Perhaps it was. Then again, perhaps it wasn't. The past was the past and, dead or alive, those who had made it so could not alter it.

"Maybe it was difficult enough," the voice continued. Link had been bleeding and sore after the match—Zelda had merely been a spectator. "Who are you to judge the difficulty of the fight?"

Zelda agreed. The only one who should be panicking about the future should be the Hero himself.

But he was naive, uneducated in the teachings of ancient Hyrule. He had grown up in an isolated village, far from fear, worry or apprehension. Perhaps it was Zelda who was worrying for him.

The Princess glided down a staircase, her hands loose by her side and her expression remote. Her thoughts now lingered on Ordona Province, the land her country's champion lived in.

At the Celebration after his victory Zelda had spotted one of the army generals offering Link a position. Zelda could not see why he should decline the offer: he was strong, skillful in the art of combat and although a bit reckless would be a powerful addition to Hyrule's defense.

Yet he did not take the offer.

He accepted the idea of working in a ranch rather than defending the country and he accepted the idea of someday being Mayor of a small village that not many knew of.

She could not blame him. His destiny was sudden and unexpected—he was too used to the way he had been born and raised. It would have taken a while for him to accustom to the new style of living that he would have been given: he would be treated differently, looked at differently, thought of differently…

When Zelda heard him refuse the position, she felt as though a request of her own had been rejected. Thinking back on it, she thought of herself as another fan girl. If she could have, she would have used the position offering as an excuse to just to get to know him…her hero.

Zelda fixed her footing and twirled around a servant carrying a crate of bottles. He apologized before continuing on his path towards the kitchens, and Zelda looked around the corner to see where it was that he had come from.

The last, orange rays of sunlight were filtering through an open doorway down the hall where more crates were, along with a large being standing in the open door. They were speaking to one of the servants as they picked up another large crate. The soft clink of glass echoed in the hall as the box was lifted.

Zelda took a few steps out from behind the wall, trying to spot who it was that was delivering the castle's worth of milk.

"…Fado of Ordon has fallen ill," the large woman was saying to the servant. "So I took over for him."

"Ah, I see now," the servant answered respectfully. She gave a short bow and turned, jogging down the entranceway towards the kitchens. Spotting Zelda, she again curtsied before going on her way.

Zelda hardly knew any of her countrymen due to her having to be stuck in the castle to do paperwork and making sure that her subjects had their needs met. This was something that she needed to work on, for deciphering who the substitute for the original milk carrier was, was tough for the ruler.

The woman's dark red hair flashed in the sun as she turned to Zelda, smiling and winking. It was then Zelda recognized her.

"Good evening, Princess," Telma greeted. "I see you're taking a nice walk. Work's got its toll on you?"

"Y-yes…" Zelda replied, not used to being addressed in such a friendly manner. She barely knew the bartender, but could recall that she was part of a small group dedicated to bettering the land of Hyrule.

Telma frowned, a look of concern plastered across her round face. "Princess, there seems to be something wrong?" Zelda bit her lip, unsure if she should answer, but it seemed as though Telma read her thoughts: "Is it perhaps…the defeat of the Evil King, Ganondorf?"

Zelda inwardly gasped, searching Telma's face for a smile to show that she wasn't serious or that she had guessed and it just happened to be just what was concerning Zelda.

But Telma's look remained sturdy and impassive.

"W-who…" Zelda stuttered, flabbergasted.

The bartender's face cracked into a smile and she didn't answer but rather excused herself, letting the door swing shut as she left. The sound of the wooden gate slamming shut echoed loudly in Zelda's ears.

The Princess's face was a light shade of red as she glared at the door. The bartender first spoke to her with a friendly air, and then left rudely as though the Princess was not to be respected. Still, Zelda could think of only one way that Telma could have known what was going on with her.

"Fanadi."

* * *

"_Silence!_" Zelda demanded, her voice ringing across the chamber. Immediately the room quieted and everyone took their seats. Zelda sat before all of them, her eyes sweeping over their drawn and somber faces.

A line of soldiers surrounded where the place she was seated at, casting their eyes to and fro, watching every small movement made by someone within the courtroom. Along the long table Zelda was behind were some of her officials and courtiers. They wore stone-faced expressions, deaf to everything else but what was before them.

Zelda cleared her throat before formerly addressing everyone: "We are here to discuss the crisis of a serious crime," she began. "Impersonation of a Royal Figure." The name of the crime was in bold-faced writing on the documents she had read nearly a week ago. It burned behind her eyelids, taunting her.

Just as Zelda expected the room burst into uproar. People began to shout their disapproval, slide fingers across their necks or sit where they were, looks of anger stamped on their face.

Zelda looked over the people in the room, silently taking in their reactions. From this she could gather that no one in the room was a supporter of this Ruheart figure. This time, an official ordered the room silent, interrupting Zelda's investigation.

"We have not gathered here to listen to your opinions and complaints!" he shouted, cutting his eyes at anyone who made eye contact with him. "We are here to discuss the crime, come up with a punishment, and be done with it!" The room resorted to soft whispers, a few casting their looks to the irritable official. When Zelda stood, everyone fell silent once more.

"Impersonation," Zelda announced, "can be met with certain punishments. As Gildrar has told you, we are here to mainly judge Alexandria Ruheart. We are not here to grant attention to your disapproval. Whether you supported Miss Ruheart in this act I care not. I only wish for this offense to be met with justice."

Behind her, Zelda could hear a courtier whispering to a soldier. The soldier complied, making his way for the door to bring in the offender.

Zelda remained silent after her statement. The room was also quiet. Everyone seemed to be holding his or her breath with anticipation, hurriedly scribbling on a piece of parchment, or glancing to the door every so often. Zelda however, did not feel anger or fear.

She was eager to meet the one who had mocked her, and ready to show what would happen if you insulted a member of the royal family. The door at the end of the hall creaked open, and immediately every head turned to see the face of the one guilty of the crime.

One soldier was one either side of her, each having a firm grip of her arm. Her skin was even paler than in the photo Zelda had seen, and she looked much less confident. Her silver hair was not radiant as in the photo either, but rather tangled and messy, forced into a waist-length braid. She was no longer wearing the outfit that gave her the look of someone important, but was reduced to wearing a raggedy, tan dress with a few patches here and there.

Alexandria slowly looked around the room, her lips pressed firmly together to form a thin line across her face and her red eyes bore into the eyes of everyone else. Zelda looked down upon Alexandria, forcing her expression into an intimidating glower.

The attempt worked; Alexandria faltered only a little at the sight of the Princess's look of hatred. She regained her composure instantly, returning Zelda's expression of fierce disliking.

" 'Alexandria Ruheart'," started one of the courtiers seated on the right of Zelda, reading from a piece of paper before him, " 'accused of the crime of the impersonation of the Princess Zelda. Spotted and discovered at fourteen thirty-six o'clock, on the afternoon of September the nineteenth,' this being only eight days prior to now."

"Do you agree with this accusation?" Gildrar inquired, his raisin-like eyes staring in to Alexandria's clear, red ones. The accused remained silent and Gildrar gave a short 'humph' of annoyance.

"You were found with a knife in possession," continued the courtier. "You were also heading down the first road going down the South Road in Castle Town. Witnesses also testified that you were approaching a young child with this knife in hand."

"Do you agree with this?" Gildrar repeated his question. Alexandria again did not respond. The official's patience fizzed out and he was unable to stop his next words from spilling out of his mouth: "Are you unable to answer because, perhaps, you know that these are true statements?"

Alexandria's gaze shot to the official, her eyes darkening as she made eye contact. Whispers made their way into Gildrar's mind, their voices undecipherable. Images flashed behind his eyelids, overflowing his mind to the point where he was shouting in anguish.

Alexandria did not look away, her attention locked on the scene of torment before her. A faint and malicious smile spread across her face and her eyes widened. The wider her grin got, the more Gildrar screamed. The owners of the voices were upon him now, louder and more threatening than before. The images continued to flash by, and Gildrar could not interpret their meanings.

Zelda was the first to take action.

She waved her hand elegantly in front of her, showing now fear at all. Alexandria's body fell back when receiving the blow of magic. The firm grips of the soldiers were the only thing that kept her from being knocked down on the spot.

Gildrar was still moaning, holding his head. The whispers died away, and Alexandria's eyes reverted to normal again. Zelda could no longer look upon her with hatred, but with shock and a small hint of fear. Alexandria struggled in the soldiers' grasp, attempting to break free, but to no avail.

She hissed something in a language Zelda had never heard before, and Gildrar was knocked to the floor, writhing and flailing and again shouting in agony.

"Enough!" Zelda boomed. Alexandria did not back down. She continued to repeat the strange word over and over, Gildrar's screams only growing louder. "I said that is enough!"

Zelda held her hands in a diamond before her and the soldiers jumped back at the sight of the blue prison now encasing the criminal. Alexandria ceased her speech, realizing that it was no longer taking effect because of the barrier around her.

"Guards," the two soldiers who had once been holding Alexandria averted their eyes from the blue jail and looked up to the Princess, "escort Gildrar to Aristae."

The soldiers briskly nodded, helping the moaning official up and taking him out of the courtroom to the Healing Halls. Once they had left, Zelda returned her attention to Alexandria.

"You use unknown magic," she started. Alexandria did not give any sign of her confirming this statement, nor did she try to break free of her prison. "Clearly you are not from this country. Either that or you are from an unknown clan."

The spectators were filled with silence. No one blinked or moved a muscle, afraid of missing something.

Zelda's eyebrows were furrowed together and her eyes remained unwavering on Alexandria, ignoring all who were watching. She took no heed of the courtiers and other officials fidgeting with impatience.

When she took her first step towards the caged woman, a hushed gasp echoed in the room. All eyes were glued to the Princess as she approached Alexandria. Zelda's shoulders were straight and her head was held high to show she was not afraid, and Alexandria gave the impression of an angry and cornered wolf.

Zelda reached eye level with Alexandria Ruheart, hiding all emotions to give the look of nothingness. She felt Alexandria press into her mind attempting to attack her with the same force she had tortured Gildrar with, yet Zelda blocked her mind with a strong wall.

Alexandria tried pushing through the wall, and so Zelda strengthened it. She would not show weakness to someone beneath her. To those watching, it seemed like the two women were having a staring contest.

No words were exchanged between the two, and so all the audience could do was watch and wait. Zelda succeeded in forcing Alexandria out of her head, and once she had weakened, she stormed into her mind and began to communicate through thought.

"State your purpose," Zelda demanded. Alexandria was trembling from the force of Zelda's strength yet would not give in. She managed to steady herself and responded in her language, her voice full of loathing.

Despite the strangeness of the words leaving her lips, above Alexandria's voice was another whisper, full of as much hatred as Alexandria's: _"I am…servant…fall…wither…decay…submit to…master…"_

"Who?" Zelda inquired, her telepathic voice loud and commanding. "Who is your master?"

The voice over Alexandria's was now gone, as though it no longer wished to translate. When Alexandria responded, Zelda was clueless as to whether or not she stated her master's name.

For a brief second, Zelda's wall was weakened as she wondered what it was Alexandria had said. The criminal took this chance and hissed, glaring into Zelda's eyes.

Zelda let out a cry of pain and fell back, her head slamming into a leg of the table she had been seated at.

"Witch!" The courtier who had read Alexandria's account from the slip of paper was standing now, his eyes full of fiery rage. "You will pay for harming the Princess!"

Alexandria took no heed of the courtier's words but kept her attention on Zelda who was now holding her head and squeezing her eyes shut in agony. She powerfully pushed through the torment just enough to wave her hand forward, and Alexandria's cage was shattered, sending her flying back a few feet. The soldiers who had been stationed around the room charged forward, their lances at the ready.

Alexandria struggled to her feet, staggering a bit to keep her balance. She looked up just in time to see the soldiers rushing towards her, their weapons raised and expressions of pure hatred across their faces. They surrounded her before she could avoid it, and she was engulfed in their small group.

Zelda struggled to her feet, rubbing her pounding head. The courtier who had burst out towards Alexandria came towards her, helping her to her full height.

Zelda swayed, her vision blurry and the sounds of whispering voices still ringing in her ears. She heard the clashes of the soldiers' weapons and their shouts and looked over to them.

A few of the people who had been seated in the audience also joined the ambush, flailing through the hubbub and swinging their arms and feet frantically, only wishing to make contact with something: namely a part of Alexandria.

What was implied to be an attempt to hold Alexandria down backfired and soon the people were fighting amongst themselves. The soldiers were tossing around reporters, and soldiers were whacking one another with their lances, trying to knock each other out of the way to get to Alexandria.

Only Zelda heard a distant creak in the courtroom. She looked around for the source, her eyes resting on the door at the end of the room. A few people gathered that the meeting was over; everything important had been said and done.

Among the small group of people trying to leave was another soldier. He glanced over his shoulder, and his lips twisted in to a cruel grin. He too left, and the door swung shut behind him.

He followed the small crowd of people halfway down the hall leading to the exit before taking a sharp turn and jogging towards the window. He leaped forward, blocking his face and crashed through the glass pane, falling swiftly towards the ground.

As he fell, his helmet flew off his head and his short, dark hair brightened and lengthened. His once dark green eyes slowly changed to red and his small mustache vanished, revealing a smooth and feminine face.

Alexandria rolled through the bushes she landed in and looked one last time at the courthouse.

She knew that if she returned now, she would not receive a warm welcome—but she was sure that he had another plan.

Zelda marched towards the pile of soldiers and citizens. They were moaning and groaning, little of them with bruises and cuts, while others had ripped clothing and black eyes. She could not believe how stupid they had been only moments ago.

One of the soldiers pulled out from under a fallen man, looking around the room until he spotted Zelda looming over him. "Princess…" he uttered, smiling sheepishly, revealing a space in his row of teeth. "She got away."

Biting down her anger, Zelda marched out of the room.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Zelda swiftly took out the ribbons in her hair, allowing her hair to fall over her shoulders and down her back. She then took her braid out and began to comb out the curls now in her dark locks.

Another soldier had come to her earlier stating that this time they had a group search the area around Lake Hylia, yet there was still no sign of Alexandria.

Zelda did not believe that they were searching hard enough, for there was no way that Alexandria could leave the Lanayru Province in under a week on foot. The day before another messenger reported that she was not hiding in any of the homes or dark alleys of Castle Town. Zelda had nearly screamed at him when he had given her this negative information.

Alexandria was an impersonator. For all the soldiers knew, she could be disguising herself as an average citizen, calmly strolling throughout the streets, waiting for her chance to head back to wherever she had come from.

Zelda detested thinking that Alexandria could be doing something like that. Not only was she an impersonator, but she was also convicted of attempted murder. Why, Zelda could not care less—all she wanted was for Alexandria to be caught so that she would not cause any harm or trouble to the Hyruleans. The Princess swore that she would not let her country suffer again.

She would not willingly allow her people to suffer at the hands of a nameless evil ever again.

She loathed the day that she allowed a stranger to take over her country. She had done nothing but stand by and watch in horror, believing that if she defied this usurper king, civilians would be hurt. If Link had not stopped him…

She would have failed as a ruler. She would have been like many rulers before her who cowered in the face of danger and demanded that her subjects did something for themselves. She had made a silent promise after the drama was over: that she would defend her people the next time something happened.

She would not back down without a fight. So she had trained, learning how to fight from some of her elite soldiers.

No longer would she wield a blade without the slightest idea how to use it.

Yet once again, Zelda had second-guessed herself. When the person from the Twilight had arrived, stating that she should choose the life or death of her people…

"It could not have been helped," came the inner voice within her once more. "You were too weak."

Zelda ignored the voice this time. She could have fought back—and she could have fought bravely. But she had second-guessed herself. She had done it again in the courtroom.

The soldier who had left with the group of people was very dubious, and yet Zelda looked the other way. She did not know whether she should have called him back in to the room to help pin down Alexandria.

In the end she did not, and something told her that that moment was when she let the impersonator slip out of her fingers.

A heavy knock pulled Zelda out of her thoughts. She wrapped a dark shawl around her shoulders, and then quickly slid her matching slippers on her cold feet before opening the door. Standing there was a maid carrying a silver tray with a cup of hot tea along with a few jars of things to add to it.

"Good evening your Highness," she greeted, bending her knees in a short curtsy. "I have brought you your evening tea."

"Thank you." Zelda opened the door wider, allowing the maid to step in.

She nodded her thanks and ambled to the dresser to place the tray there and Zelda quietly shut the door behind her.

"Do you wish for some sugar?" the maid inquired, carefully holding up the jar of sugar. Zelda nodded her agreement, asking for only little. The maid offered her a few more add-ins, however Zelda declined them. "Princess, if you do not mind my prying…is there something bothering you? You usually have much more in your tea…"

"A little something," Zelda replied, picking up the cup of tea. "But it is not to concern yourself with."

"Of course, your Highness."

Zelda sipped the tea, careful not to slurp it down for it was still hot. "…There is still some of this flavor?"

"That is, unfortunately the last of it," the maid answered. "We normally receive the tea from the bartender, however she went missing not too long ago."

Zelda refrained from choking on her drink. "I-Is that so?"

"Yes," the servant continued. "When someone from the castle went down to the bar to retrieve more drinks, the bar was locked. When he pressed his ear to the door, there were no voices. He strongly believes that Telma is gone. Along with her acquaintances…those three who always lounge about in the furthest end of the room… What were their names again? Simon…?"

The maid walked over to the window, opening it a bit to let in some air, and then started to untie the curtains. "I do remember one man, Rusl his name was. I heard he had headed back to Ordon, though, along with that young man…Link, I believe. Fine man that Link is, isn't he?"

Zelda was uncertain if her face felt warmer because of the tea or because of the maid asking her opinion on Link's attractiveness. The maid noticed Zelda's sudden silence, but chose to make no remark on it. Zelda finished her tea, placing the cup on the tray and heading towards her bed.

"…If you would, please leave," she ordered. "I…wish to go to bed."

The maid nodded, acknowledging Zelda's fatigue. She had been up late nights ever since the court incident and the maid could not blame her. She picked up the tray and left the room just as Zelda asked, gently shutting the door behind her as she did.

Zelda took a deep, shuddering breath when the maid's footsteps died away. She kicked off her slippers, tossed her shawl on to the dresser and collapsed on the bed, her eyelids heavy yet unwilling to close.

Zelda did not deny it. She was afraid. The bartender and her small group were the only ones that Zelda knew of that worked for peace in Hyrule. If something big like an invasion happened, she was sure that the group would warn her at least.

Even though Zelda hardly knew them, she felt as though they were her secret bodyguards. But now they were gone. She did not know if they were murdered by the beings that the postman spotted, and she did not know if they left of their own accord. All she did know was that they were gone, and now that she knew it, she strangely felt weaker.

As Zelda's eyelids slowly began to shut and she faded into sleep, she decided that the next day she would send out a small squadron of soldiers to search Hyrule for any sign of the bartender and her allies. The Princess felt helpless and abandoned. All she wished for was for that small group to return to her frontlines.

With her mind writhing beneath an overcast of concern, she drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

It felt as though only a single minute had passed when Zelda felt the burning rays of sunlight pressing against her face. She rolled over, feeling around for her bed covers to pull them up over her face, but her hand stopped its search and slumped to her side. Zelda pressed her other hand under her cheek to use it as a makeshift pillow, for her regular pillow felt grainy and rough.

A small wind blew around her, brushing dirt onto her face and into her eyes. Zelda squeezed her eyes shut, however this did not help and so she began to rub them.

This didn't help either so Zelda sat up, pressing her fingers gently on to her eyelids and gently wiped them, rubbing the dirt to the corners of her eyes. She opened her eyes, removing the dirt from their corners, and when she saw where she was she could not remember why she was there.

Hills of desert sand stretched for miles all around her yet Zelda was sure she had fallen asleep in her bed. She was still wearing her nightgown and such and her feet were buried deep in the sand beneath her.

She brought herself to her feet, looking around for any signs of anyone else being there with her. No matter where she looked, all she saw was sand on the ground and being blown around in the air. It was ridiculously hot; sweat was already dripping down her brow.

She knew that it would be futile, but she called out anyway, waiting for an answer—the only response she received was the howling wind. She called out again, louder this time, and when she did she heard someone shout back. Zelda took a step forward, searching for the source of the voice and spotted a figure not too far off.

Their form was distorted by the heat waves but Zelda was able to tell that it was a tall and average-built man. He was not facing her, but turned slightly, facing some people behind him and waving his arms for them to hurry.

Three more people emerged from the sandy winds, trudging slowly through the sand. Right when Zelda was about to run to them, the earth beneath her jolted and she was sent careening backward, crashing into a small altar and slamming her head on the ground.

Zelda held her head, feeling to see if she was still conscious. She pulled herself to her feet and looked around the place she was in now. A large and pitch-black slab of rock was dug into the sand before her and on the altar she had hit was the frame of a mirror. Six tall pillars rose all around her, each with a different symbol carved into their heads. Standing atop these symbols were the Sages, seemingly staring down at her.

Zelda opened her mouth to speak to them, to question why she was there, however someone spoke before her. It was a woman's voice and sounded remarkably like Telma's.

Zelda whipped around, her eyes resting on the bartender and the three behind her: an old man, a young man and a young woman.

Telma was strangely speaking slowly, and all at once everything before Zelda looked more like a hazy dream. She looked up to the Sages to see how they would respond or to see if they were aware of Zelda being there.

The Sage above the symbol of Water answered Telma, taking no notice of the Princess's presence: "City…" The rest of the Sage's words were muted until another word was heard: "Mines…" then "Woods…" and finally "Peaks…"

Zelda turned to the group behind her, clueless as to what the Sages were talking about.

As if to clear her jumbled mind, everything returned to average pace and Zelda could hear every word that everyone spoke.

"So that fortune teller was right," announced the young woman standing to the left of Telma. Her dark hair was dotted with grains of sand and her eyes looked unfocused. "That evil King's Triforce did split into pieces."

"It seems that way," Telma responded, looking up to the tall pillars to find that the Sages were no longer there. "We'll head to that City first. We need to get that shard out of sight of non-Hyruleans. Otherwise…" Telma's voice was muted once more.

Again the ground shifted under Zelda's feet, but this time the Princess remained steady enough to not fall over. She was now gazing towards the mountains far in the distance, watching as Telma and her accomplices trudged towards the large hills.

All at once Zelda understood the information that she had been given: the Triforce of Power was split in four and were all scattered throughout the land.

One was in a "City", another in the "Woods", "Peaks" and "Mines". Zelda called out to Telma, trying to warn her that she did not know what she was dealing with. She kept calling and shouting, wishing desperately that they could hear her.

"It's already happened," a voice within her whispered. "They're long gone…"

Zelda once again paid no attention to the voice and called out Telma's name once more. The woman's large figure began to vanish into the sands just as her three allies before her, none of them turning their heads to acknowledge her call.

Blackness obscured Zelda's vision in the next instant. The cry of the harsh winds died quickly and the feel of the rough sand was no longer surrounding her bare toes.

She felt as though her mouth was covered by something, stealing away her ability to shout any longer. Her breath was whisked out of her in a single blow by an invisible force and light returned to her vision once more.

Zelda took in a large breath of air as she plunged out of the drowning feeling of the darkness that clouded her mind. The morning light was pouring in from her open window, the translucent curtains blowing gently in the dawn's breeze. She carefully slid out of bed, her thoughts lingering on the dream she had the night before. Or was it a dream?

There was a chance that it was a vision or a message from the past of what had happened to Telma. No matter what the vision was, it had eased Zelda only a little. She now knew that the bartender and her group were still out there somewhere. She didn't need to send out a squadron of soldiers anymore. They were not dead, nor were they murdered.

They were alive…as far as Zelda currently knew.

The Princess made her way towards the window, standing at a safe distance so that those below her could not see her. She did not want to let anyone know that she was awake for if she did there was a large chance that servants would be informed and come bustling to her room, putting her in dresses, pampering her and rushing her to breakfast only to desert her and bury her in more paperwork. She required a few minutes of alone time and silence.

The wind blew in gently again, caressing her face in its grace and bringing with it the scent of the flowers from the fields and courtyards below. Zelda inhaled deeply, unintentionally deciphering the distinct scent of each flower They each brought in a different thought: happiness, sadness, liveliness and quietness, love…

On that last note, Zelda was reminded of the maid's prying question: "Fine man that Link is, isn't he?" The Princess uttered a soft, "tch", brushing the inquiry out of her thoughts. She had better things to do rather than judging a man's pleasant appearance.

Before Zelda had the chance to think up a few examples of things that she would rather do, her ears picked up the sound of distant voices floating down the corridor. She groaned, remembering that the servants had grown accustomed to her waking time—it was the same always, unless she had done an all-nighter.

Zelda tossed her shawl around her again, adjusting it so that it covered most of the upper half of her body. She, just like the night before, slipped on her bed slippers and once the knock was heard on her door, she opened it.

To the ruler's surprise, it was not a servant that awaited her attention but rather the postman once again. His eyes were wider than normal, staring up to her with great fear. Both of his arms were held behind his back due to the soldiers holding on to him. When Zelda had opened the door, staring in confusion at the scene before her, the guards had briefly exchanged glances, slightly tightening their grip around the postman's arms.

"He came barging in here once again, your Highness," stated the soldier on the left. "We were…err, unaware that you were already awake…"

Zelda was unsure if she should believe this unconvincing statement or ignore it altogether. For not only did the servants know her waking time, but the guards did as well. Why were they gripping the postman as though he had committed a crime anyway, she wondered. Were they lying to her?

Zelda's jumbled thoughts simmered just a little, allowing her to clearly remember the day that the postman had first come to her, telling her of the mysterious murder of one of the Hyrulean generals.

Zelda was absolutely sure that the postman had the kind of courtesy to request to speak to the Princess before barging in. She believed that there had to be a reason he was being kept away from her. There had to be a reason that his messages were desperately trying to be kept away from her…

But what was it?

Zelda turned away from the silent inquiry.

_It's my imagination._

"He charged passed us without even noticing us," the guard on the left explained.

When Zelda looked down to the postman in slight shock, the guard who spoke took the chance to squeeze the messenger's wrist just a little to make him wince: the movement of the mail carrier made it seem like he was wincing at his huge mistake.

Zelda averted her eyes from the postman and looked up to the two guards, her eyes darting between the two, trying to spot a falter in their movements. Neither of them made any sudden movements nor twitched or gave anything away…they were telling the truth.

Zelda closed her eyes, and when she opened them glared down to the mailman.

"What is it that you have come to tell me then?" Zelda questioned. "For you to break in here, without being summoned nor announced, it had better be worth listening to."

The postman's lips were pressed firmly together as though he was almost hesitating on the information that he held.

One look from Zelda signaled for the soldiers to release the postman and be on their way. The two obeyed, hurrying back down the hall to their stations. She returned her attention to the man before her, crossing her arms over her chest, waiting patiently for him to speak.

"…The governor who had custody of the General's body…" the postman almost whispered. Zelda's attention was now locked on him, anxiously awaiting his next few words. "He has been…executed." This information hit the Princess hard. She put a hand around her throat, unable to imagine the thought of being put to death for a framed crime. "The dark beings that I saw murder the general," the postman continued, "I saw more of them. Not enough for there to be a whole army but…when I first saw them there were two…after I had left the execution site, there were five, no, at least six or seven of them."

These dark beings that the postman mentioned to her reminded Zelda of the strange-looking creatures that had burst in to her throne room the day Hyrule had been overrun. Another part of her stated that these beings were not how she imagined them…there was something different about them.

It was hard for her to place her finger on it, but they didn't seem like the kind of monsters that would attack you with warning like the monsters in Hyrule did. These shadows…seemed more secretive and lithe. As dark and silent as the night…

"The General's son was at the execution as well, most unfortunate," the postman went on. "When I had left the site and spotted the dark shadow things…if I hadn't shouted warning to the General's son, he would be dead right now. He managed to fend them off, of course. But one was able to do something to him…and the son fell unconscious…and I don't believe he has awakened at all yet…"

"A coma?" Zelda suggested quietly. Her anger had quickly subsided and was replaced with confusion and worry. "…Did you see what that thing did?"

"It looked like he had grabbed the son's throat…" the postman imitated the motion, "…the man stabbed the shadow with his sword but as he did he looked…" The mailman was at a loss on how to explain what he had witnessed. "The shadow being fled…and the General's son lay on the ground unmoving, but still had a pulse." He looked up to Zelda to see what she would say in response to the dreadful news.

She ordered him to stay where he was and quickly headed in to her room. She tore open drawers and searched her desks, finally finding a piece of parchment and a quill to write with. Her trembling hand quickly wrote a single sentence; she folded the sheet of paper up, wrote the name of the one to receive the letter on the front and rushed back to the postman.

He glanced briefly at the paper, catching the name of the addressee before the Princess thrust the letter in to his chest.

"Deliver this," she ordered. "Make haste. He will be…"

"Princess!" Both Zelda and the postman looked up to see one of the nurses from the Healing Hall standing not too far from them. She took a few more steps forward before stopping abruptly, glancing between Zelda and the postman. "Oh, I am so very sorry! I did not mean to…interrupt…" She stood stiffly with her lips pressed together.

Zelda removed her hand from the postman and gave full attention to the nurse, granting her permission to continue.

"G-Gildrar has…awoken…" she went on hesitantly. "He wishes to know the details of what happened at the court after he had fainted. I, of course, have n-no idea what exactly happened, so I thought that perhaps…the Princess might… Err, b-by your leave, your Highness." The nurse bowed a few times before hurrying back the way that she came.

Her footsteps died away, and Zelda turned to the postman, looking almost surprised and perhaps even annoyed that he was still standing there.

"Did I not say hurry? You have your assignment. Now go!" The postman jumped, hurriedly stuffing the letter into his bag and jogging down the halls. Zelda waited a few moments after he was out of eyesight before walking back into her bedroom to dress herself.

She searched through her large closet, trying to find a normal dress to wear; her hands reached through the many dresses, skirts and other various clothing before catching hold of a familiar cloth. She gripped it tightly and tugged it out of the wardrobe, holding it against her body.

It had been a long time since she had worn this particular outfit. She hadn't laid a finger on it ever since the incident with the Twilight had ended. It held many memories in its lining, cries of sorrow etched into its designs. Her elegant, purple and white dress and its apron-like attachment had remained hidden in her closet for what seemed like forever.

But now, she had the strangest desire to wear it.

She slipped out of her nightgown and shawl, placing the clothing neatly on her bed. She hesitantly reached out for her old dress, quickly deciding whether or not she should agree to wear it. She inwardly nodded, grabbing a fistful of the outfit and hurriedly put it on. She smoothed down the creases and began to search through her dresser for the white gloves that she always wore with this dress.

She found them hidden beneath a few layers of under garments and when she shut the drawer a distant clink was heard. Zelda put the long gloves on and opened the drawer closest to the bottom and reached inside.

Her fingers closed around cold metal and when she pulled out the object, in the Princess's hands were golden shoulder pads; she put these on as well.

After rummaging around her room for her shoes, Zelda examined herself in the mirror.

For a moment she thought that she saw a tattered bed and a fancily barred window behind her.

For a moment the windowpane rattled from thunder and raindrops were crashing hard on it.

For a moment a fire burned in a fireplace and the skies outside were covered with gray, dark clouds.

But only for a moment.

Zelda shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut—when she opened them, she saw her regular bed once more, draped in its new covers and royal pillows and its gloating canopy. The skies outside her window were clear and blue with birds soaring through the air and calling out to one another.

Lining full of dreadful memories.

Designs etched with sorrow.

Bright colors draped in darkness.

She would never call this dress her favorite again.

Zelda held herself warily, her eyes boring into her reflection yet seeing nothing. She knew that she had to release the past and dismiss it from her memories. She knew that she could work harder for a future not filled with sadness and darkness.

She knew that she was still afraid yet unwilling to confess it, and she knew that one day she would have to confess it. Would that day soon arrive?

Zelda looked outside her window, down towards the surrounding town. From where she stood she could see the streets teeming with people and the outdoor markets selling to lines of customers. It was too crowded.

The Princess went back to her wardrobe again, this time bending down to reach for a small box pressed against the wall. She pulled the container out of its hiding spot and placed it in front of her. She carefully pulled off the cover and reached inside, taking out a heavy dark cloak. Through the cloak's darkness, she could see the helmet of the one that had burst into her throne room on that day almost a year ago. She shook the image away and draped the cloak over her body and immediately exited her room.

Zelda's dress and cloak billowed in her wake as she hurried down the halls. She held the hem of her clothing off the ground so as to not trip, glancing this way and that, trying to spot someone she recognized from the court. Halfway to the castle's front gate, the Princess heard raised voices.

She slowed her steps and looked around to find the source of the voices. She looked around one of the room's tall pillars and caught sight of two men walking down the halls. The both of them had their attention on one another; neither of them noticed the Princess's presence.

"…A bit nerve-racking," one of the men was saying.

It took Zelda a moment to recall where she had seen the man before. After a few minutes of hurried brain racking, she remembered him as one of the government officials. She also remembered him as a witness of the court meeting—she believed him to have been seated two people away from her on her right. The second man appeared to be the Captain of the guard.

Zelda remained hidden behind the pillar, listening carefully to their conversation before she interrupted. She was curious as to what it was that was "a bit nerve-racking".

"I trust his ideas," the Captain responded. "According to that girl at least, he sounds like he knows what he's doing." The man who had spoken first scratched his blonde hair, unsure of what to say as a reply. Zelda's eyes narrowed and she held her breath as one of the men's footsteps stopped. The second man stopped not too far from the pillar that Zelda was behind.

"What?" It was the Captain that was closer.

"But…doing this behind her back…" she heard the official whisper. "You of all people should feel the most guilty!"

The Captain merely chuckled in response. Deciding to end it quickly, Zelda stepped out from behind the pillar and stood behind the Captain, careful to not make a single sound.

As she anticipated, the guard turned, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets when he laid eyes on her.

"Y-your Highness!" he stammered. He fell to one knee in an instant, bowing his head low. "What a surprise to run into the Princess here," he continued, trying to keep the shock out of his tone.

Zelda did not give him a second glance and looked up to the blonde official.

He looked up from his bowed position and snapped his head downwards once more, afraid to meet her stern gaze.

"Official," Zelda said kindly. The official looked up slowly.

"Your Highness?"

"You were at the court for Alexandria Ruheart, were you not?" she questioned. She sensed a stir come from the Captain however she did not pay it any mind.

"That is correct, my Princess."

"I have received the knowledge of the official Gildrar finally awakening from his mental injuries," Zelda continued. "Go to him. Inform him of the incidents of the court hearing. Tell him every little detail that you know. Once you are finished, tell him to have this information recorded, then have a country-wide search for Ruheart."

"C-country-wide…?" the official spluttered.

"You have been told of your assignment." Zelda watched as the official hurried back down the hall towards the Healing Halls, and then turned her attention back to the Captain before her.

She stood against her urge to ask him of what he was speaking of earlier for she knew that the odds of him telling her the truth were slim. Should he lie to her, she did not wish to deal with the sequence of putting him to death.

"You are dismissed," she said curtly, unable to contain the snarl in her tone. She did not even understand why it was there. Nevertheless she turned away from him, gliding down the halls without looking back.

With that small order checked off her to-do list, Zelda headed for the Castle's exit. Once she reached the gate, she called to the guards stationed there to let her out. They obeyed, raising the iron gate and pushing the two large, wooden doors open. The iron gate and wooden doors shutting behind her silenced the sound of her footsteps.

As the Princess walked down the roadway leading to Central Castle Town, she pulled her hood over her head, making sure that the shadow of it covered her eyes. She adjusted the scarf in her robe so that it hid the bottom part of her face. With her face draped in shadow and her figure blocked by the large cloak she was wearing, she was sure that no one would distract her from the reason she had arrived.

Zelda weaved her way through the crowds of people surrounding the street musicians located right near the open archway she was at. A small child skipped around her, laughing and giggling until her mother pulled them out of the way.

So much for no distractions.

Zelda hastened her footsteps, allowing her feet to carry her to the West Road. If she were to take the South Road, the shorter road, to her destination, her arrival would be delayed due to the crowded streets.

It hadn't been a long time since she had last visited her surrounding town. As usual, street performers were performing, the line of soldiers was still patrolling the area and small children still ran about, playing with the homeless puppies and feeding the wandering cats. It was peaceful, just as she had left it, and this was exactly how the Princess liked it. She took a turn down a narrower road: the Western Thoroughfare.

The small field that once held the STAR game that was once so popular was now empty with the exception of a small garden in the corner. When Zelda had first ordered for the STAR tent to be taken down, she thought that she would feel proud whenever she walked by its empty lot. But instead she felt rather guilty.

She couldn't help wondering if she had aided in helping the emcee come closer to poverty, for she had lost track of him and was clueless as to whether or not he had found another job. Zelda shook away her feeling and continued down the cobble road, following it to the back roads of the town.

As the Princess walked down this road her heartbeat rose and she could hear it pounding behind her ribcage. She gulped, hiding her feeling of anxiety even though it wasn't necessary thanks to her hood. She stopped before a door almost hidden behind heavy, purple curtains, their edges lined with gold silk.

Zelda glanced to her left, then the right, then thrust the door open. Once inside the small building, she shut the door loud enough to get the attention of the inhabitants.

This was it.

This was the place Fanadi dwelled in.

This was Fanadi's Palace.

Zelda had burst in interrupting the fortuneteller and a current client. Fanadi was holding the woman's hand with the palm faced upwards. The woman turned, her eyebrows furrowed together and a deep frown across her face.

Zelda stood where she was as though waiting for a snide remark, or a look of annoyance, or at least to be confronted for barging in. Had she walked in as Princess Zelda rather than a darkened figure, she would not expect any of these reactions. But seeing as she had not walked in with the appearance of royalty, she was prepared for these responses.

"Right on time," Fanadi said instead. The woman stood and collected her bags and hat. She pushed by Zelda barely trying to see the face behind the veil of darkness. The door creaked twice signaling that the woman was now gone.

Zelda tread across the many rugs placed on the floor, pressing the scarf closer to her nose to protect it from the perfume in the air. The room was dark and stuffy, no windows were open nor were there any sources of light other than the large crystal ball stationed before the fortuneteller.

"You have come to me for answers," Fanadi started, a smile gracing her pudgy face. Zelda did not reply. "You want to know what's in store for your future," Fanadi continued almost mockingly. "I knew you would." Her smile turned into a smirk. "You can't stay proud forever, young ruler."

Zelda tore her hood off her head, glaring down to the seer. "I have come for none of these," she said flatly. "I have found time in my schedule to reply to your letter, however belated this reply may seem." Fanadi raised her eyebrows in curiosity and her eyes sparkled with a hint of delight. "I have come to inform you that I do not wish for you to be reading into my business," the Princess continued in an undertone.

"Ah, but dear Princess," Fanadi started, smiling sweetly, "when I sleep, I see visions. When I slept, I saw a vision of what was going on in your mind…and of a bit more." Her eyes sparkled again. "This I cannot control." She sighed, lacing her fingers together above the table. "Nor could I control requesting you to come and see me so that I could help you."

The Princess's eyes glared down into the psychic's beady ones. Her patience was wearing thin.

"I knew that you would come down to see me for answers," Fanadi went on.

"I have not come to you for answers," Zelda interrupted.

"There is no use lying to yourself, my Princess." Fanadi unlaced her fingers and moved her hands to drum their fingers on the crystal ball. "I hold the answers that you seek."

Before Zelda could respond, the fortuneteller shut her eyes, her hands rolling over the crystal ball. She muttered something in a language that Zelda had never heard before; perhaps it was a chant. Zelda's fingers dug into the table covering.

She clutched a handful of the tablecloth, squeezing and releasing it, using this as a makeshift stress ball. Her teeth were clenched behind her pursed lips but she held in her anger: she couldn't release her emotions so recklessly in the open.

"I told you that I have not come to you for answers," Zelda repeated. "I merely came to request that you—" She was cut off when the seer opened her eyes. Her hands were resting on the crystal ball, looking loose however firm in their grip.

Her eyes were looking straight into the Princess as if reading her mind. Zelda turned away from the seer and pulled her hood over her head once more, making her way towards the exit. As her hand reached the doorknob, the oracle spoke; her voice sounded hollow and withdrawn, as if she were standing in another room.

"Betrayal lurks in your midst," she informed the Princess. Zelda turned and faced Fanadi again, wanting to look away yet unable to. "Time is growing short. His plans are being carried out one by one and you will be unable to stand against him…" Fanadi closed her eyes then opened them. They were back to normal, as was her voice when she added, "…weak Princess."

Zelda felt fear bubble within her. Her anger once again fell back behind her other emotions and her feeling of hatred towards the woman seated in front of her melted away. "I-I…" From where she stood, she could see the psychic's lips turn into a kind smile. "I-I…"


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**_  
_

_Puff. Huff. Huff. Huff. Puff._

He slowed to a walk again, resting his hands on his knees and taking a short breather. He had been running for almost a whole day, searching for his destination. But he had no idea where it was that he lived. The postman stretched and yawned, using his tongue to moisturize his dry lips. The sun was beating down on him and the hiss of the hot day was giving him a splitting headache. He used his hand as a shade for his eyes and squinted around, trying to spot a landmark for where he was. A small bridge…and there was the stoned walkway leading to South Castle Town. He was now in the southern fields of Hyrule. A gurgling shout distracted him from his analyzing and he turned to see one of the land's famous monsters.

Wielding a large club that it dragged behind it, this monster charged forward with its pebble-stoned eyes locked on the messenger. The postman gained the strength to dodge out of the way when the monster struck, leaving it to strike nothing but the thin air. He then crept behind it and ran full speed away from it. Fortunately for him the monster was small-brained; it looked around, clueless as to where its former prey had gone.

The postman was again panting after hiding behind a large boulder. He was sure that with this cover, he was least likely to be found by more hungry creatures. As the sun sank behind the hills, his confidence began to shrink, for what should he do should a monster attack him in the night? The postman gulped, forcing the negative thought to the back of his mind. If he were to be attacked, he would rather it happened after he delivered his letter. It was, after all, a letter from the Princess Zelda. He wouldn't let death be the cause of something as important as this not making it to its destination.

What was in the letter anyway? The postman didn't think much of this thought as it entered his mind. Whenever he was told to deliver a letter, he always wondered what was written in the note. He knew that he did not have the right to look through other peoples' mail of course. He would only open it if it were addressed to him.

The postman's fingers brushed against the letter in his bag and he almost pulled it out to read it. He resisted the temptation and quickly pulled his hand out of his bag. He then buttoned the bag shut so that he wouldn't be bothered by the urge any longer…at least, not as much.

The night air grew chilly and the postman's small clothing was hardly a match for it. He wrapped himself in his arms and stood from behind the boulder. He took a step forward and planted his foot in the dirt—immediately it sank. The postman shouted out in fright and tore his leg out of the small hole. He got on his hands and knees and peeked into the hole that his foot had caused, trying to spot if there was any soil or anything beneath it. Unable to spot anything with the sun leaving him, he stuck his arm in the hole and pressed down, almost falling through the hole. The mail carrier jumped to his feet and slowly crept around the hole, careful to not press his feet hard into the ground. A few feet away from the hole he found the ground to be safe and broke into a slow jog down the dirt road. His mind lingered in curiosity on the strange break in the ground until he reached a crossroad.

He glanced to his left, spotting the dirt road ending and melding with the short grass. He remembered in an instant: of course. This was where he lived.

The postman changed his footing and jogged down this road, which led deep into the woods. A few more monsters were waiting by the end of the road and, using the bushes as cover, the postman easily slipped by them. The path weaved to the right, leading under low tree branches, a few of them draped with laundry. The postman screeched to a halt, staring up at the partly wet clothes in confusion. As he continued his trek through the forest, he heard distant snoring. A small firelight lit his path as the postman tiptoed forward to see who was making the annoying sound. Sitting on a tree stump with his head lolling to the side was Coro. The birds in the nest in his Afro were also snoozing away, cuddled close to keep warm in the cool, fall night. The postman continued on his way, careful to not disturb the resting group. He traveled through the tall grass, a small tunnel and across the bridge that lead into the small village of Ordon.

The postman came to a small clearing: located near a closed gate was a scarecrow, slashed and broken and its once painted smile was slowly fading, looking more like a frown. The postman sauntered out into the clearing, staring up at the tree house that Hyrule's Hero was living in. It was too late in the night to scream for him to come to the door. As an alternative, the postman climbed up the ladder and slipped the letter under the doorstep. The postman nodded in satisfaction and climbed back down the ladder and back out to the Hyrulean fields. If he went at a quick pace, he would reach his home in the morning.

Not far from the exit of the forest, the postman noticed something amiss. The monsters that had once been strolling around the entrance to Ordona Province were laying flat on their stomachs, unmoving. The postman's heartbeat raced and he froze in his tracks, paralyzed with fear. He whipped around, looking this way and that, trying to find what had attacked. He knew it couldn't have been a swordsman—there was no blood, nor any cuts on the monsters' corpses. The postman took a few deep breaths and examined the dead bodies of the hideous creatures: their eyes were still wide open and their mouths were agape. Their odd-colored skin looked strangely pale…and it was then the postman recognized that look. The same look had been on the General's face after they had attacked.

But where were they? The postman again looked around, trying to spot where the dark shadows were. He looked closely for anything, yet could hardly see anything. The canopy of the trees was blocking the moonlight. The postman decided not to chance it and continued to jog down the path. The slightest sound caused him to break into a run for a moment before he would notice that the sound was nothing to be afraid of.

He reached the pebble-stoned road leading up into Castle Town and just as he was about to step foot on it, a blood-chilling, light chuckle sounded in his head. His gaze shot to his left and right and at first he thought he spotted something, but it turned out to be the flick of a nocturnal animal's wing as it flew through the night.

_"Mail carriers are most annoying aren't they?"_

Something latched itself around his throat. His feet were lifted off the ground. His world went dark.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Rays of sunlight flooded the small village of Ordon—it was a bright and warm glow. The birds had awoken before the sun rose and were already chirping and twittering, soaring throughout the village to find food for their young. The villagers too were awakening, stretching and yawning as they moved about in a sluggish manner.

By the edge of the diminutive village awoke another inhabitant: Link. Only a year ago he had been traveling across the land of Hyrule, doing everything he could to save it—sleep had no longer been a priority, even if it did affect his battle reflexes. Regardless of how long ago it had been, the young man still relished the feeling of resting in his comfortable bed. However he knew that in no time soon would he be able to sleep in late: he had a job at the ranch and if he wasn't called in for work the village children would wake him up.

Link rolled out of bed, yawned and stretched and then sauntered to the other end of the room to a small water basin to wash his face. As he splashed the liquid on his face, something white caught his attention. Link shook the water out of his hair and scooped up the letter by his door. The envelope was plain and white, bearing his name upon it. He ripped the envelope open and pulled out the letter, allowing it to unfold by itself. Instead of a greeting from a friend or a letter from another fan girl like he expected, Link's eyes were met with one single sentence:

_Come to the market._

Link turned the letter over and over, looking for the name of the one who sent the letter yet finding no name anywhere on it. Despite his suspicious feelings toward the letter he felt that going to the market like the sender had requested would actually not be a bad idea. What could suddenly make him feel this way: food shopping, perhaps? Link tucked the letter into his small pouch hanging behind the door and shimmied into his clothes then grabbed the pouch hanging behind his door and tied it around his waist. He secured his sandals on his feet as he hopped out the door, maintaining his balance as the sun's light nearly blinded him.

He nimbly hopped off the platform that his house was situated on, shading his eyes as he approached the gate leading into Ordon. He opened the gate as wide as it could go, then turned to his horse. Her ears perked up at the sound of her master's footsteps and she awoke and brought herself to her feet, stomping her heavy hooves to steady her large body.

Link patted her head in greeting before picking up the nearby saddle and placing it on her back. Once he was sure that it was secure he set up the reins. He then picked up his sword that was lying nearby and stuck it into the sheath that was attached to the saddle. After climbing aboard his steed he kicked her sides lightly and directed her to ride down to Ordon.

The first person to greet Link at the town's entrance was Rusl. Link noticed the sword on Rusl's back before he did anything else. "This?" Rusl noticed Link's wandering eye after he gave a cheerful 'good morning'. "Don't worry, I'm not being called in for anything," he explained. "I was just about to head into the forest to go hunting. And I see you're off to work." Link nodded in response and his sudden curiosity from Rusl being armed early in the morning slipped away. "Well, see you this afternoon then." Rusl stepped around Link and Epona, exiting the village.

Link continued on his way to the ranch, greeting the people he saw on his way. Only the adults were awake so far: the children were most likely still worn from the party that was held the day before for Colin's younger sister. She was now a year old.

Epona tread across the small bridge crossing the stream, pausing when she heard someone call out her owner's name. Link looked up at the sound of his name being called and his eyes rested on the Mayor.

"Morning, Bo," Link called, waving and kicking Epona's sides for her to continue on her way.

"Mornin', Link," Bo replied walking over to him. Noticing the slightly troubled look on the Mayor's face, Link pulled lightly on Epona's reins, causing her to stop in her tracks. "Listen, Link…" Bo lowered his voice, "You didn't happen to hear any…screaming last night, did you?"

"Screaming…?"

"Ah, I guess not."

"No, but why?"

"No, no reason," Bo assured, backing away and waving for Link to continue to the ranch. "Don't you worry about it all." Link held back his questions and had Epona head up to the ranch. Once there, they came across Fado who was just opening the gate. Fado turned at the sound of the heavy hoof beats, grinning when he spotted whom it was.

"Hey, you're here a bit early, huh?" he asked, pushing the other side of the gate open. He stepped aside to let Link and Epona go through first then walked in after them, shutting the gate behind him.

"You think?" Link asked in a monotone voice, sliding off the saddle.

"Well yeah, I mean the kids usually go to get ya a bit later so I guess you could say I'm surprised."

"Well I figured you might've still been sick," Link replied in a matter-of-fact tone as he led Epona to the stables, holding on to her by the reins.

"That's mighty considerate of ya." Fado unbolted the door of the stable and pushed the doors open, heading in to the stable. Link released Epona's reins, allowing her to roam the ranch and followed his partner inside. There he aided in releasing the goats from their pins and as soon as they got out the goats spread out across the ranch, lying lazily in the pasture, shade or began to graze in the grass. Soon Epona joined the large group, laying in one place for one moment then up and grazing the next.

Link sat on the fence bordering the farm, a piece of grass sticking out his mouth. He had been whistling through it only seconds earlier however his mind soon became clouded with the thoughts of the letter he had obtained that morning and Bo stating that he had heard screaming

As his thoughts began to wander and float around these slightly troubling problems, Link felt something nudge his foot. He looked down and standing in front of him was a young goat, staring up at him in a way that seemed like it was asking him to cheer up. Realizing what the goat wanted to see, Link forced a smile onto his face. The goat baaed in approval and turned, heading back to its parents.

Link absentmindedly chewed the piece of grass in his mouth for another minute before spitting it out and hopping off the fence. He strolled through the large meadow, sidestepping goats and stepping over the ones that were in deep sleep. He found a clear spot to lie down in and did so, resting his head softly in the grass.

He looked up to the clouds, examining their shapes in his boredom as he waited to be called to help with something. Rarely anything disturbing happened around the ranch: there was a small pack of wolves that lived nearby but they hardly showed themselves. Monsters remained in the forests or out in the fields, never wandering into towns or villages. The goats were accustomed to one another well enough to not start trouble with each other. The only incident that happened often was a runaway goat.

Not too long after Link closed his eyes to rest, a foot jabbed him in the rib. Link jerked upright and looked up to Fado, rubbing his side in clear annoyance. "What?" Fado's eyes were searching the hills, resting in one place for a second before continuing to look around. Link sensed his partner's tension and stood, looking through the hills with him.

"You didn't see it, did you?" Fado inquired, looking to Link out of the corner of his eye. Link didn't respond for he was sure that Fado just saw him sleeping. "Something, or someone up in the hills…"

"Maybe it was your imagination," Link suggested, plopping back in the grass. He looked over to the goats that appeared to not notice the apprehension of one of the ranch hands. "The goats haven't seemed to notice anything at all." Fado merely nodded. He eyed the hills warily for another moment then turned and walked away.

As Fado walked away, Epona approached Link this time, nudging his cheek lightly with her snout. She whinnied and snorted, her breath spraying into his face and up his nostrils. Rather than telling his horse to eat a mint leaf he covered his disgust by inquiring what was wrong. He knew it was odd to ask an animal that for she could not respond with words. To communicate her thoughts, the horse snorted and nodded her head off to the hills.

"You saw something too?" Epona neighed, gaining the attention of the goats for a split second. They dismissed her cry as nothing important and went back to their business. Link stood up once again and looked throughout the nearby hills for any sign of movement.

A calm breeze came by and instead of bringing peace it sent a chill down the hero's spine. Why was it that he couldn't find whatever Fado and Epona had seen? Were they hallucinating? Link did one last scan of the tall hills and still could see nothing.

He turned his back on the hills and rubbed Epona's head, telling her that there was nothing to fear and she appeared to calm down. Link relaxed completely now, chuckling at himself for getting worked up over nothing—but only a bit too soon.

A cry of shock and anguish split the peaceful morning air. Birds squawked and twittered, shooting out of the trees in the direction of the forest. The goats jumped and looked around and a few of them began to panic, ramming into one another only to be knocked off their stud-like feet. Epona too was riled up.

Fado came charging across the pasture, desperately trying to calm the goats down. He looked up over his shoulder to call Link for help but saw that the young ranch hand was already aboard his horse. Right when he was about to call out a "thanks" he noticed that Link was not headed in his direction to help but was headed towards the gate leading into the village. "L-Link! Where are you—?"

"Fado! Heard the goats, please!" Link called behind him as Epona leaped over the gate. The shout had sounded all too familiar. But it couldn't be who he thought it was…

The villagers were gathering around the entranceway of Ordon by the time Link and Epona stormed down the hill. As soon as they were close enough, Link shouted for the villagers to clear out of the way. They quickly obeyed, hopping, skipping and jumping out of the way of Link and his steed. They all watched the two dodge around the corner in silence, then the men headed back to their homes, grabbing any weapon they could find and rushing off after the young adult. The women remained where they were, holding their children close and gazing down the path with worry etched upon their expressions.

The children exchanged glances with one another, but out of them all Colin appeared the most terrified.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Epona trampled over bushes and shrubs as she raced through the wooded area. Above her, Link was knocking tree branches out of his way and ducking under the ones that were too heavy to move. His face was pulled into a frown and his hair was blowing loosely around his face, repeatedly getting into his eyes and tickling his nose. He silently wished that his horse could go faster but he knew her limits.

The steed came to an abrupt halt when reaching the gate that was built before the tunnel leading deeper into the Faron woods. Link looked towards the tunnel, then to his right, to the path that led out into the fields. He swayed between his choices at this fork in the road and then it came to him:

_Hunting._

Link hopped off the saddle, tore his sword out of its sheath and took off down the dark tunnel. He kept close to the wall, running his hand along is hard surface to ensure that he didn't make an early turn and crash into something. He cut his way through old webs and stepped over rubble, careful to keep his balance.

He reached the end of the tunnel in less time than he anticipated. Gripping his sword tight in his left hand he stepped forward and before his foot was able to graze the dirt, debris fell from the ceiling and a heap of something furry fell before him.

The furry creatures lay in the path before Link, unmoving and mangled beyond recognition. Link believed a new hand to be at work here for no ordinary monster could be capable of twisting another beast's image. He stepped over the pile of the decayed animals, forcefully shoving their image out of his mind. Once outside the dank tunnel, he searched the wooded area for any sign of movement — but there was none.

He found this disturbing.

Link cautiously moved forward, holding his sword at the ready. He avoided the small, wooden platform that was built out of the edge of the hill, worried that the creaking his weight would make on it would attract unwanted attention. He crept down the hill instead, taking each step slowly.

Once at the bottom, he continued his quiet progress and kept a lookout all around him, prepared for an ambush. His blade briefly reflected the light of the sun that fell down through the openings of the trees, and the light bounced off to his right to shine on something.

Link's eyes followed the sudden blink and he caught sight of it reflecting off another sword. In that very moment he completely forgot about being stealthy and ran full speed towards the weapon. It was stuck into the ground looking weary and ashamed for not protecting its owner.

Link searched frantically for the owner of the sword. His mind was racing a mile a minute, unwilling to pause and register its assumptions. Link's sword hand trembled as he searched and his eyes rested on something partly hidden behind the base of a tree.

A hand.

Link slowly approached it: walking, then jogging, then running. He kept on thinking, hoping that the person of the hand was still alive and breathing and would be able to explain what had happened to him.

"Rusl?!" Link whipped around the tree, staring down to the man's body. Link waited a few seconds before calling again, "Rusl?"

The swordsman lay unmoving still. There were no cuts or bruises on him at all, no sign that he had been attacked. Link stuck his sword in the ground and kneeled before Rusl, gently shaking his shoulder.

"Rusl? You…" He fell silent, his eyes staring unwavering at his inert companion. In his silence he heard it: hushed breathing. Link held his breath and leaned forward, pressing his ear against Rusl's chest.

It was there. It was a small beat but a heartbeat nonetheless. Link breathed a sigh of relief, glad that his friend was still alive. Right when he was about to heave Rusl off the ground, Link's sensitive ears heard the faintest sound of something scratching against tree bark. He swiped up his sword in an instant and shot out from behind the tree, his gaze sweeping the wooded area.

He stayed close by the tree Rusl was hidden behind and stood in a position where he would be able to keep an eye on him out of the corner of his eye. There was another light sound, this time sounding from behind him.

Link twirled around just in time to see something slip into the cover of a tree's shadow. Link abandoned his spot and hotfooted towards the tree. He sidled along the trunk then spun around it, whipping his blade through the air.

Rather than cutting clean through a monster like his mortal draw should have done, Link found his blade frozen in midair. He looked closer and saw that his sword was not stilled in the air but rather was being held in the air by something: a thin, brown and bony hand.

_Crunch…swish…_

Link could hear the steps of whatever was holding sword advance towards him, its feet crunching on twigs and sliding smoothly through dead leaves. Link gulped and stood firmly, searching through the darkness of the close trees for a small glimpse of what was stepping towards him. At last he saw it.

The creature stepped within range of a few slender beams of sunlight that shone through the canopy of the leaves. The light fell on the beast, illuminating its skeletal features. Its weathered skin was holding tight to its thin body, allowing every bone in this creature to be visible. It stood tall like a human and its bone structure was also similar to that of a human giving it the air of an all new monster worthy of its own class.

The monster's gaunt fingers were clutching Link's blade with all or maybe even little of its strength. Each step the creature took sent chills down Link's spine and he could no longer look upon its hollowed face with its empty, dark eyes and its vacant and gaping mouth. Instead he focused all of his attention on wrenching his weapon out of its hand but to no avail.

The creature continued to take steps forward, and with each forceful movement Link was forced to take two steps back. As the monster stepped into full sunlight, a blanket of darkness draped over it, covering every inch of its atrocious sight. A pitch-black mist dwelled around its feet, making it look as though it were floating rather than walking.

Right when Link was sure he could tear his sword out of the monster's hand, its lanky fingers gave one final squeeze and the blade snapped in two.

In his shock, Link's grip around the handle of the weapon loosened, giving the new monster the chance to toss it aside. The sword was thrown with such might that one half of it skidded and sank into the dirt while the other half slammed into the trunk of the tree that Rusl was laying against, managing to scrape his ear. The shadow monster stretched out its hand, its scrawny fingers extending toward Link. The hero caught sight of a long and deep line with black blood trickling from it on the hand of the beast before he back flipped out of reach.

The shroud of dark mist around the beast's feet crept around the monster and in the blink of an eye it reappeared three feet further from Link, rearing back its head and raising its shoulders. For a second Link heard and saw nothing but the shadow before him, and had only a short amount of time to wonder what it was that the beast was planning.

A head-splitting shriek emitted from the mouth of the shadow beast, resounding in Link's ears and causing his head to spin. It was an extremely shrill cry, so high that Link was sure that he was the only one that could hear it. His yell of pain sounded like the quiet moan of a baby compared to the screaming.

He fell to his knees, holding his head as if to ensure that it wouldn't burst. The monster's cry was the only thing that he could hear at all. Everything else had been muted: the birds' wings flapping above as they took off away from the cry, and even the whispering of the wind through the leaves backed away. He thought that it would go on forever when finally the shrieking ceased, but he was granted hardly any time to recover.

The monster vanished once more and reappeared before Link. Clouding his vision was the black mist that stayed around the beast's feet and only an instant later he felt an enormous amount of pressure collide with his stomach. His eyes bulged in surprise and pain and out of his mouth flew drops of blood mixed with saliva. The beast's powerful punch caused Link to fly backwards—he tumbled through the air before crashing through a tree, bowling it over.

The tree toppled to the ground with a large thud that echoed throughout the forest. Link was in fetal position below a small cliff, hidden behind the figure of the fallen tree. His mind was spinning, his head was pounding, and his stomach was in so much pain that he could barely manage to stand.

His gaze lifted up and within the light of the sun he could spot Rusl's sword: it was still dug into the ground, just as it had been when he'd seen it earlier. Link used his arms to pull himself toward the blade, making sure to stay behind the fallen tree so that the monster would be delayed in spotting him. He reached the sword and used it to pull himself to his feet, then drew it out of the ground. His movements were only a tad too slow.

A shroud of darkness appeared before simmering down to reveal the strong opponent. Link swung his sword on impulse once the shadow being came into view only to have it thwacked out of his hands. He turned awkwardly on the spot and caught sight of the sword digging into the broken tree, useless and out of reach. Something latched itself around his throat and his feet were lifted off the ground. The bony fingers of the monster increased its grip as it sucked Link dry…but not of air: of _life._

He could feel it. With every second that ticked by Link felt weaker and weaker. He could still breathe and move, but with his energy being drunken out of him he had no strength to fight back. Regardless Link clutched the hand of the monster and tried to pry it off him but his attempt was feeble. The image of the forest and the monster before him began to grow hazy and fuzzy. It was the end.

He was going to die here.

Through the fog of the darkness that swirled around the monster, Link could see its gaping mouth twist into a hideous, toothless grin.

Suddenly, faint warmth surged from Link's left flew through his veins, flowing through his body and filling him with renewed strength. His vision cleared, his head stopped spinning, and the pain in his stomach slowly seeped away.

The monster could feel Link returning to life and tried to not only suck the life out of him, but also strangle him. Link gagged and sputtered and grabbed his foe's hand with his dominant one. On the back of Link's hand emitted a golden light—the light of the Triforce of Courage.

The light shone brighter, hardly phasing Link but blinding the monster before him. It screamed and released him, throwing him out of its sight. The light brightened, lighting up the entire forest and briefly taking on the task of the sun. The monster vanished in a wisp of black smoke and its cry fell into sudden silence. As soon as it was gone, the light from Link's hand faded, returning to nothing but the sight of a light birthmark.

Link felt truly grateful to the power that lived within him, feeling as though it were more of a guardian that always came to his rescue when he desperately needed it. Link stared up at the sky from where he lay on the ground, staring up to the clouds.

_Looks like…a goat…_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

It was as though he had a sudden blackout. Link's eyes opened and he found himself staring up at the underside of a set of stairs. He groggily looked around the room he was in: there was a desk to his left, cluttered with papers and an ink bottle with a quill was off to the side of it. Link then angled himself to look at what was below him: there was a small kitchen and a fireplace that housed a crackling and warm fire in its hearth. After looking around the cozy home again, Link recognized it as the Mayor's house.

Link then looked back up to the underside of the stairs, trying to recall what had happened. It took him a few minutes to collect his memories of the day and then he remembered: the new monster that appeared, the glow on the back of his hand, and Rusl… Link shot up in bed, tearing the covers off him.

Where was Rusl now? Was he awake? Was he all right? Did he remember anything? How bad were his injuries? All these questions and more flowed through Link's mind as he thought of his friend. He got up from the bed, finding that he was capable of walking around now without any problems. Just as Link was about to make for the door, the doorknob twisted on the other side. He froze in his tracks, standing on the rug before the fireplace as he waited for the person to enter.

As the door opened, Link could see the darkness of the sky above and the mysterious light of the moon shining down upon the village. He then looked down to see who was entering, finding himself looking into the eyes of Bo. A kind smile spread across the Mayor's face along with a look of relief. Link could see the faint outlines of furrowed wrinkles on Bo's forehead and guessed that he had been frowning from worry and apprehension almost all day long.

"So you're awake," Bo greeted. "Glad to see that you're all right."

"Where's Rusl?" Link asked instantly, hardly trying to keep the inquiry from spilling out of his mouth.

Bo chuckled lightly. "That's just like you, Link, to be worryin' about others all the time. Even if you're half-dead you still want to make sure that everyone else is makin' it…" Link waited. "Rusl is resting at his home. Colin and Uli are watchin' over him. He's still breathin'—he's alive. But just barely," he added that final remark under his breath but Link ignored it.

"Has he woken up yet?"

Bo didn't answer.

"Well? Did he? Even if it was only a moment or a second?" Still no reply. "Bo!"

"H-he did, he did," Bo replied finally. "When the other men and I arrived at the scene we thought that there sure must have been a battle, either that or a silent hurricane hit. You were lyin' on the ground next to a broken tree and Rusl was against another, nearly dead…" He paused hesitantly.

Link waited, maintaining his patience as he waited for Bo to continue.

"When we picked him up he seemed to get a hold of himself and managed to stay awake on the way home," Bo went on. "But when his head hit that pillow he fell right asleep." Link breathed a sigh of relief. "He said that he'd tell us the details of what happened in the morning but…" Bo's expression fell serious as he seated himself at his desk. "Link, if you know _anything_…."

"I…" Link's gaze fell to the floor. He stared blankly at the design on the rug below his bare feet, lost in his thought. "…was attacked…" Bo gained immediate interest in the conversation. "A creature draped in darkness and extremely powerful attacked me." Link held his stomach, reliving the feeling of the hard blow that he had been given. He shook the feeling away and dropped his hand at his side. "It nearly killed me, but then—" He froze, suddenly remembering that he had never actually explained to Bo or anyone in Ordon what the mark on the back of his hand was capable of.

He had never told them of what had happened during the Twilight incident. He felt that it would be too complicated to explain, and not even he had the answers to their possible questions. Not only that but he felt that it would be overwhelming to them all and he could even imagine their expressions.

"But then…?" Bo repeated, eying Link curiously, awaiting his explanation. Link drew himself back into reality, debating whether or not he should attempt to explain something that he hardly knew about.

"I can't remember," he answered, pretending to search his memories. "I can't…it's just a sudden blackout and then I wake up here." It wasn't entirely a lie. Bo searched Link's face for a flaw or a hint of untrustworthiness. Link maintained eye contact, silently praying that Bo would believe him. After the investigation Bo sighed deeply, half in frustration and half in tiredness.

"All right," he said, resting his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together. "You were out nearly all day. But it's dark out right now so I suggest that you head home and get some comfortable sleep. Maybe it'll come to you in the morning." Link nodded then turned and left, quietly shutting the door behind him.

He walked down the dirt road to his home in silence. The lamps in the village were lit, dimly lighting the entrance to each of the houses. He stopped on the bridge that crossed the stream, looking up towards Rusl's house. He was about to head for that home and pay a short visit, yet remembered that Rusl was sleeping. Seeing as it was late, Colin and his mother were most likely asleep as well. He turned his back on their house and only second-guessed his conclusion when he heard the door to Rusl's home opening.

A young woman backed out of the house and said one last thing to the residents before turning around. Link recognized who it was immediately and turned away, heading for his home. As he walked, he heard a soft crunching sound in the pouch tied around his waist.

Link stopped briefly and reached into the pouch, feeling around in it until his fingers closed around a small sheet of crumpled paper. He pulled it out and smoothed it out, re-reading the sentence that was scribbled across the sheet of parchment:

_Come to the market._

Illia hastened her footsteps as she trotted down the tall hill that Rusl's house was situated on. She had stayed with the family ever since Rusl had been returned home, helping them with anything that they needed and also keeping Colin and his younger sister in a good mood, constantly assuring them that their father would definitely awaken in the morning. She reached the bottom of the hill and turned to cross the bridge to go home. Should Link still be resting in her home she would watch over him for a while longer before turning in for bed.

She entered her house, announcing her arrival. She spotted her father at his desk, looking over the papers in his hands. Illia untied the pouch around her thigh and continued through her home, running her hand along the banister. She looked around the stairs, feeling her heart sink when she spotted that Link was no longer there.

"Dad?"

"He went home," Bo informed her, not taking his eyes off the papers in front of him.

"Oh. Could I…go see him?" At this, Bo looked up from the papers on his desk and stared at his daughter for a long moment. She was staring back at him with a pleading expression, mutely begging him to grant her permission to at least say a quick good night.

"I—" Bo re-thought what he was about to say then returned to his papers. "Yeah. Yeah and while you're there, see if he'll tell you anything about what happened. He always likes to tell you and the other kids about his adventures…"

"But…I thought that you said that you were going to ask him?" Illia inquired, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"I did…" her father responded slowly. "But I feel as though he didn't answer truthfully. Come back right away and tell me what he told you, all right?"

"Okay!" Illia left her pouch on the hooks along the wall and burst out of the house, jogging down the road towards where Link lived. She slowed as she came to the bend that led to the open area that Link's house was built in. Lacing her fingers behind her she stepped forward, her face breaking into a smile as she approached the clearing.

But as soon as she arrived her face fell and she ducked back a few feet. She then peeked around the fence, careful to not poke her head out too far.

Standing in the clearing was Link, but he wasn't headed in for bed as Illia thought that he would be doing. Instead he was dressed in the green tunic that she had not seen him wear for a year and his shield was strapped on his back. He wasn't looking around suspiciously but was busy fixing the saddle onto Epona's back.

Illia's eyes widened as she watched her dear friend climb up onto the saddle and steer his horse in the direction of the forest. He stopped abruptly at the exit and before he could turn, Illia pulled herself out of view. She waited a few minutes before peeking out again and when she did, Link and Epona were gone. Illia jogged out to the clearing and stood at the exit of Ordon, staring sadly down the dark path.

_Why would he leave without even saying anything?_


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Link's stomach grumbled uncomfortably for the umpteenth time that morning. It was not that he despised eating so much that he would starve himself. The problem was that he would often wake up in the morning and completely forget to eat and his stomach would not remind him until he actually thought about food—this or he wouldn't eat enough that would sustain him.

The day before he had been working at the ranch, distracted by his weird letter, Bo's worry and his job. His strange attacker then sent him completely off track to the point where he had forgotten about all that was disturbing him, and then he had been out cold for the rest of the day.

Adding to the problem the small meal consisting of milk, goat cheese and a few slices of meat that he had eaten while going through the Faron Woods had barely filled him up. Link groaned in unison with his stomach as he rocked from side to side on Epona's back.

He had been riding his steed for hours, from the night before to the current dawn. At the rate that they were going, Link guessed that they would not reach South Castle Town until at least mid morning or later. He rested his head on his horse's neck, trusting that she knew which way to go without him having to steer her the entire way. He had been out in the fields plenty of times, so much that he had memorized which path led to which town or province.

Link glanced up to the sun, calculating which direction that they were headed in: directly north, just as they were supposed to. As they continued through the plains of Hyrule, Link felt like a speck moving through the fields.

He had completely forgotten about the feeling of being so small compared to the world. The last time he had been in the fields of Hyrule was a year ago, and he rarely journeyed out after that. It felt a tad overwhelming because he had been so accustomed to his calm lifestyle that everything else had seemed so large in comparison. Thinking of this, Link could clearly recall the Celebration party that had been held after he had slain Ganondorf.

Everyone had been dressed in beautiful and elegant cloth and linen, their jewelry sparkling and their hair neatly combed or brushed into its style. Even Link had been dressed in the appropriate attire, appearing to be of higher class than he actually was. It was there one of the Generals had asked _Link_, a former ranch hand and nothing more to join the military forces.

A part of Link had wondered what it would be like to be part of the armed forces that protected the country. The general explained how much of a jump Link would be making in the social status should he join, and also briefed him on where his new home would be.

"It will be a big jump for you lad," the General had stated, clapping Link on the shoulder. "So many doors will open for you should you accept. With your strength our army will be able to defend against countless foes!" The army general chuckled but stopped abruptly when Link removed his hand from his shoulder.

"Sorry."

The general had then stared at Link in disbelief before bursting into laughter again. "You're just being modest, lad! Think of all the differences that will be made in your life. It's not everyday that you get an opportunity like this! Why, if I were you I'd—"

"But you're not me," Link interrupted." I'm sorry, but I'll have to refuse your offer…"

Epona came to a steady halt, dragging Link out of his memories. He sat up and patted her head, then kicked her sides to get her moving.

"We can't take a break right now," he said in a slightly annoyed tone. "If we hurry I can get you some food from the market."

Epona snorted as a reply, clearly not one to accept his bribery.

"Then what—" Link looked up and his eyes fell on the body of the postman who lay inert in the path. Link slid off the saddle and approached the postman slowly, looking around the area to see if he could spot someone or something else nearby.

Seeing nothing but the green of the grass, Link bent down and shook the postman lightly.

"Hey." There was no answer.

Link assumed that the postman had passed out on the job and turned him over. He contained his shock and maintained a cool air about him as he stared down to the postman. The mail carrier's eyes were wide open and his mouth was partly agape. His skin was pale and when Link bent down to listen to the man's heartbeat, he heard nothing.

Link sat by the postman, different solutions running through his mind. There was the possibility of digging a grave for the poor soul. But what could he dig with? Link was sure that if he tried to dig a hole using his shield he would end up digging for who knew how long and while he was digging he and Epona could be at risk of the postman's attacker. Link didn't want to take that chance.

Then there was the option of leaving the postman's body where it was and letting the bugs eat away at it. As he rethought this, Link found a few flaws in that plan: for one thing, he didn't want people traveling by to have to see a dead body laying in the road with bugs flying around it, and for another the scent would linger for a few weeks. In fact, the mailman's body was already starting to reek.

Another idea that popped into his head was to wrap the postman's body in the blankets that Link would have used for camping and bring him to the Princess and explain to her how he came across it. Link could see faults in this plan as well. The most noticeable problem was if he were to be believed or not. But whether his explanation would be accepted or not was not his choice, but the decision for the Hylian Princess to make.

Link made his way back to Epona and pulled the blanket off the back of the saddle and spread it out on the ground. Holding his breath, he dragged the corpse onto the blanket and wrapped it in it, then pulled out a second blanket as a second layer, hoping that it would at least delay the smell.

He then hoisted the corpse over his shoulder and tossed it onto Epona's back—she whinnied and shook her mane, attempting to angle her head to see what it was that had been tossed upon her behind.

Link soothed her as he patted her head, asking her to bear the heavy burden until they reached the castle. She snorted and shook her mane one last time and stomped her hooves to steady her body. Link then climbed up into the saddle, kicked Epona's sides and they were off down the road.

Just as Link predicted they reached the drawbridge leading into South Castle Town in mid morning. He hopped off the saddle and took hold of his trusty steed by the reins, helping her up the stairs. Epona was the only one who would be able to carry the body of the postman after all—it would be too suspicious if he walked in carrying the dead lump by himself.

Once up the stairs, Link pulled Epona across the drawbridge, moving at a steady pace. The doors leading into the marketplace were wide open, welcoming any weary travelers or merchants.

On the other side of the large stonewall Link was met with a familiar sight: the market hadn't changed since he had last seen it. The street was amazingly crowded, making it difficult to maneuver around everyone. He had to do his best to make sure that the postman's body was still on Epona's back without appearing to be mistrustful. Once through the lines of customers that were in front of the hot spring water stand, Link was able to clearly see everything that was on the street.

"Bread! Fresh bread, get you're hot bread here, folks!"

"Fruits! Vegetables! It's all here and at a good price!"

"Meat for the growing men! Meat for the old, meat to put some fat on your bones, fresh and clean meat…!"

"Souvenirs get your souvenirs here good sirs and madams! You shall find no other place like the blessed land of Hyrule, bring something home for the family…"

Link couldn't suppress a smile from spreading across his face. It had been a long while since he had last laid eyes on the marketplace. As usual the salesmen were putting in their best effort to make a profit, advertising their products to the young and the old. Link approached the woman selling her fruits and vegetables and reached into his pouch to pull out his wallet. He bought a few of the healthy foods being sold at this merchant's stand and then headed over to buy some other small snacks.

He tied the bags of food to Epona's saddle and led her to the edge of one of the alleyways, finding it leading to the area that held Telma's bar. He pulled out a few carrots and fed Epona; once she was done he pulled out an apple to settle his own stomach.

"Link."

Link turned promptly at the sound of his name, searching behind him for whoever had called. In the shadows of the small area stepped a being draped in a dark cloak. Link's grip on his apple tightened temporarily before he realized that standing before him was not the monster that had attacked him in the forest. He took another large bite out of his apple and turned to face the stranger.

"In here." The person glided gracefully towards Telma's bar and vanished in the shadows of the building.

Link remained stationary, hesitating on whether he should or should not thoughtlessly place his trust in this unfamiliar person. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he had met them before.

He glanced back to the busy street and then grabbed hold of Epona's reins, leading her down the stairs. Rather than stepping down the steps the horse leaped nimbly down each set of stairs then jumped down the steps leading to the entrance of the bar. Link tossed his apple core into a barrel off in the corner before following his horse. Could it be possible that Epona remembered who this person was, or was she just being more friendly than normal?

"Who are you?" Link inquired once he was beside Epona again. As he expected the person had not entered the bar but instead was standing in front of its door. In response, the being removed their hood. Link felt his entire body heat up as his eyes locked with Princess Zelda's.

"You have received my letter then," she concluded.

"Yes," he answered, quickly regaining his composure. Zelda nodded and her eyes fell on the large baggage on Epona's saddle.

"May I inquire what this is?" She stepped towards Epona who in turn neighed and raised her front feet. The postman's corpse rolled over her back and landed behind her with a heavy thump.

"She doesn't know you well yet," Link clarified to the startled ruler. Zelda nodded a second time, feeling behind her for the handle of the door. She grabbed it and twisted the doorknob, opening the door.

"We should step inside," she said. "I have something important I wish to discuss with you." Zelda stepped inside first and once she was out of sight, Link heaved the dead body up onto his shoulder and followed her, shutting the door behind him.

Link examined his surroundings, taking in the decoration of the room. He then looked behind the counter and to the back end of the room. There was no one there and the place looked fairly dusty.

Zelda was standing by one of the curtains, watching in silence as Link laid his luggage on top of two boxes that were pushed together. She approached him quietly, sensing that it was something that he wanted for her to see.

"I found him laying in the road on my way here," Link stated, cutting straight to the point. He unwrapped the top of the blankets, making sure that it was only the head that was being shown.

Zelda kneeled before the dead body of the postman. She stared at him for a long moment, her eyebrows furrowed together in sadness. Slowly she pulled his eyelids down and pushed his jaw up, shutting his mouth. She then raised her right hand and waved it over his body, the Triforce on the back of her hand glowing softly. Her hand froze over the postman's neck and she forced the blanket down to examine it. There on his neck were the faint outlines of fingers.

"He was…strangled," the Princess whispered, touching the permanent mark. "And you say that you found him like this?" She looked up to Link.

"Yeah," he answered, his hand reaching up to his own neck to rub it. "At first I thought he had just passed out but obviously it's more than that." Zelda looked back to the postman's dead body, down to the finger marks on his neck.

"This man shall receive a proper burial," she announced, covering him with the blanket once again. "During the last few days of his life, he gave me valuable information…information that may change the course of Hyrule's future." Zelda stood and looked to Link out of the corner of her eye. "This information I shall entrust to you." She turned to face him, keeping her eye contact.

"Hyrule has been facing many secretive problems," she began slowly, "the first of which being murders." Link felt his body tense up. "None of these murders were documented before me or made public, even now after three weeks." She closed her eyes in irritation and continued her speech. "Hyrule is bordered by many other countries. Despite our vast mountain ranges, we still manage to keep in touch with these neighboring lands.

"To the north of us lies the land of Galdea. During the postman's travels he told me that he came across a dreadful scene at night in this country. One of the generals of the Hylian army was heading out to visit a family relative, the governor of Galdea. Instead of arriving at his relative's home alive and well, he was attacked, killed and his body left in the stables of the governor. As a result, the governor was sentenced to death for having custody of a corpse, regardless of the postman's testimony."

Link whistled.

"The next case came during the execution of the governor," Zelda went on grimly. "The son of the army general had been there, unfortunately having to witness the death of a family member. While leaving, he was ambushed by the same attackers that had killed his father. Had the postman not shouted out to him…" Zelda looked down to the large bundle sitting atop the boxes, "the army general's son would be dead rather than in a coma."

"Coma?" Link blurted out. "But how—?"

"According to the postman, the attackers had grabbed the young man's throat. Fortunately the son was capable of stabbing the one holding him, sending it away however passed out and has not awoken since."

Now loaded with information Link's mind roared into overdrive. "What did the attackers look like? Did the postman describe them to you at all?"

"He did not give a clear description," Zelda replied regretfully. "However he did say that they were 'as silent as the night' and 'as dark as dark can be'." Zelda saw something in Link's mind click.

Now Link had only two questions on his mind: who was their leader, and why was it that they were attacking superior people? Zelda's expression of puzzlement drew Link out of his thoughts and before he knew it he was explaining the details of what happened when he had gone into the woods to search for Rusl. Zelda listened in interest, raising her eyebrows when she heard the description of the monster and briefly connecting it to the small description that the postman had given her. When she heard how Link had nearly died she suppressed her astonishment.

"But this thing saved me," Link concluded, raising his left hand. His piece of the Triforce shone eerily on the back of his hand. "It even scared that monster away." He stared at it in silence until its strange glow disappeared. "You did say that you also have this in you, right?" Zelda held up her right hand and there, shining brightly was the mark of the Triforce of Wisdom. "You know, I was never really told what exactly these things are," Link went on. "But I do know that the great Hero of the past had to bear it and it aided him when he fought the King of Evil."

"…Yes, you are correct," Zelda responded. "These powers held within us are part of a set of three, all together being known as the Triforce. The third piece of the ancient relic belonged to Ganondorf, but as you witnessed as his life seeped away the Triforce of Power could no longer dwell within him." She paused before asking, "Were you ever told the story of the three goddesses?" Link racked his brain for a moment, trying to recall if he had ever heard a story or a brief mentioning of the goddesses. He shook his head meekly. "Then I shall tell you.

"The world used to be nothing more than a vast emptiness: there was no life, there was no order. The three goddesses, Nayru, Din and Farore descended from the heavens to cultivate the world that we now live in. Din created the land; Nayru blessed it with her wisdom that gave law and order to the world and Farore created beings that would uphold that law. In their wake they left the Triforce. The Triforce is capable of granting only a single wish of the user and it consists of three pieces: Power, Wisdom and Courage.

"But the Triforce was not divine and could not clearly judge between good and evil. And so the goddesses placed the Triforce into the Sacred Realm, hoping that someone worthy of it would someday find it.

"It is said that in order to gain the Triforce as a whole, one's heart must have perfect balance of Power, Wisdom and Courage. If someone with a heart like this were to obtain the Triforce, the Sacred Realm would become a paradise and that person would gain the true force to govern all. But if someone whose heart was unbalanced got the Triforce, the Sacred Realm would become a Realm of evil and the person would gain the one piece that represented them the most—the other two pieces would transfer to two people who represented them the most. Unfortunately, this is what had happened far back in the history of Hyrule.

"Ganondorf was the first to obtain the Triforce, but he was unaware of the side-effects. Because his heart did not have balance, the Triforce split in to three pieces: Power belonged to Ganondorf, while the Triforce of Wisdom entered the Royal Family and the Triforce of Courage entered the hero."

"So then that Ganondorf guy is the same one from the legends?" Link asked, incredulous. Zelda nodded. "Then that makes him…goddesses know how old…"

A sudden and awkward silence settled between the two. Zelda fell back into her thoughts, disregarding everything else that was around her. She clearly thought back to the vision she had only a few nights ago and she began to wonder if she should inform Link of it. But that had been the reason that she had summoned him, wasn't it?

She felt foolish, requesting that Link go to retrieve the four who had left her country. But nonetheless, she wanted them to return home and to be informed of the problems that they either would have started or gotten in to. She took a silent breath and hurriedly explained her dream to him. She excluded the information that included the Triforce of Power being split. Even she could not wrap her mind around how and why it would have broken in to four.

Once her request was delivered, she told him which direction Telma and her company had gone in: west, over the hills of the Gerudo desert. She could tell that he was not delighted over the idea of heading into the scorching sands of the desert, but appreciated that he was hiding his disappointment.

She smiled approvingly to him and turned to face the bundle that sat upon the crates. She held her hands before her, slowly raising them and bringing the corpse up with it. She then sealed the body in a clear, blue container, having it float behind her as she made her way to the back of the room.

She pulled the hood back over her head and felt the hero's eyes lingering on her. She turned and her eyes glinted with guilt. "I apologize for making you do this," she said.

"Apologize?" Link echoed, flabbergasted. "There's no need: I will bring them back to you, Princess."

Zelda looked at him for another minute, then turned and pressed a tile in to the wall. The rusty, iron gate in front of her slowly rose, creaking as it scraped against the stone wall. Once the gate was high enough, Zelda stepped into the tunnel behind it with the encasement of the postman's body trailing after her. She could feel Link's gaze on her as she continued walking, feeling it leave her as she vanished into the darkness of the passageway.

_I'm counting on you._


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

It was so..._disappointing_.

It was disappointing that he had once believed that Princess Zelda was difficult to fool. It was disappointing that he had even been half-expecting her to figure out the reason for the events occurring in and around her country.

Then again, had he not been informed, he, too, would be as clueless as she was.

Malbex twirled the Seeker—a magical mirror in the shape of a sphere that reflected any event presently occurring in any land or realm to its owner—in his hand in his state of dull boredom. Nevertheless he listened closely to the conversation of Link and Princess Zelda, his expression stone-faced. From the two's chat, Malbex discovered that the Princess knew nothing of his plan. Nothing at all.

Though he was partly glad that he had yet to have been found out, Malbex silently admitted that he had been hoping for a challenge. When the conversation between Link and Zelda had finished, he balled his hand into a fist, shattering away the image of the Princess exiting with the postman's body floating after her.

Malbex remained in his chair even when the Seeker had completely vanished from his sight. He mulled over the results of what had unfolded from his plan so far: first there was the fact that a number of country leaders and powerful political influences were either dead or in an uninterrupted and deep sleep. This easily proved to be positive information to him and he gave the credit for this success to the Shadows.

Though they were deadly creatures and had at first seemed reluctant to join Malbex in his program, they had indeed proved to be strong and loyal allies. The fact that they were large in numbers made them even more beneficial, seeing as they could be in numerous places at once. And yet, even still, this first half of his plan had still not been complete. There were still so many countries that he needed to be rendered leaderless...

The second part of his plan was something that he had thought deeply about and had forced him to anticipate reactions that would occur later in time. It was something that was so murderous, so blood spilling and vile that not even Malbex had expected such an idea to come from him. But he had not flinched when he gave the order for the event to be carried out.

And that order was the request that all citizens of the Corva Isles, a group of islands a few miles east of the shores of a country known as Arkania, were to be slaughtered.

But they were not to be killed by just anyone: they were to be killed by the Hero of Twilight, Link of Hyrule.

The reason for this was so that Link could be framed for murder and sentenced to die. And when that happened, Malbex conceived to arrive and with a power known only to his race, he was to extract the Triforce of Courage from Link's body.

For he needed that piece of the relic in order to fulfill the final part of his plan. But it was something that he could not think about now for a sudden and irritating banging noise interrupted his sinister thoughts.

Malbex's blood red eyes shot to his right and locked upon a thick and wooden door, the source of the sudden _thunk_ing noise being located behind it. At first, Malbex wanted to ignore the sound; but that was something that he simply could not do. If he ignored the sudden sound of the person behind the door, he would most likely forget to feed him. And that was a chance he could not afford.

For the being behind the door was an essential piece of his plot after all.

Malbex rose from his chair and approached the table that was not too far in front of him. From the table he retrieved a tray that bore upon it a worn and chipped bowl of what looked like porridge, a cup of water and a roll of rocky bread. Malbex eyed this piece of bread for a brief second, wondering how the food could have grown so hard. Perhaps it was because there was no moisture in this mysterious air of the Twilight Realm.

Malbex then approached the wooden door and pried it open with his free hand. Blending with the sound of the heavy door scraping against the stone ground was the noise of the being behind the door scuffling away. When the door was opened enough for Malbex's form to be seen, the small boy in the room was curled up in a corner.

Malbex stared at this pitiful sight: the boy's now unkempt and silver-gray hair hung across his forehead and completely obscured one of his bright red eyes. His skin was of a pale blue color and placed around his forehead was a silver headband, showing that he was of noble blood—the same blood that ran through Malbex's veins.

The small boy stared up at his brother's clear, pale face with wide eyes, though he did not move from his corner. Malbex's eyes quickly flicked around the small closet, searching for any hints that the boy had been trying to escape. Finding nothing but odd markings in a language unknown to Malbex written upon the wall, the evildoer dropped the tray on the ground and kicked it to the boy, letting it slide across the floor to him. Then, he shut the door.

Malbex stepped away from the wooden barrier and reverted his thoughts to weaving the next idea of his plot. He swiftly recalled hearing the Princess Zelda say that a bartender and her company were presently out of the country and that Link was to go and retrieve them. A malicious smile appeared on his face, partly hidden behind the high collar of his cloak. It was almost too perfect. With Link closer to the Corva Isles he would become closer to being arrested for a crime he could not have committed. And he would be that much more out of the way...

Malbex quickly surveyed his quarters, searching for a certain item. He approached a pair of beds propped up against the wall and removed the covers from one of them. Beneath the thin blanket Malbex found what he was looking for: a golden bracelet carved with hollow, decorative lines. The man reached forward and removed the bracelet from the mattress, turning it over in the palm of his hand to reveal the most important part of the accessory: a cold, hard and clear crystal known as a Grell.

The gem appeared to be nothing more than a specially made rock when merely looking at it. But the stone was more than just a beauteous item: it was a transporter; able to send whoever was wearing it to any land...or any realm. It was not a nature-made item but rather the hands of powerful sorcerers found only in his homeland could create it. He had retrieved one of these Grells from one of those sorcerers and had used it to escape his home when he had first put his sinister plan into action. In order to properly be transported by the Grell, the one using it had to have a clear thought of where they wanted to be sent. However Malbex did not know where he wished to go—he only wanted to hide in a place secret, a place where he would not easily be found.

In turn, the Grell used its strength, as well as a little of Malbex's magic, to transport both him and the boy presently in the closet to the Twilight Realm.

At first Malbex had been impressed that the Grell could travel across dimensions—but he had not marveled at this thought forever. For after wandering around this ominous world, Malbex found that it indeed had a ruler, a queen in fact. He had not bothered to find out her name but had instead used the Grell to send him and his captor to a more secluded part of the Twilight Realm. The two had arrived on another one of the world's floating islands miles away from the Twilight Palace. There were a few abandoned homes here and Malbex had made himself comfortable in one of them. And it was from here that he worked behind the scenes.

Presently, Malbex placed the bracelet on his wrist. He paused for a moment as he felt the cool energy of the Grell fill him and entwine with the magic inside of him. Once the joining was complete, Malbex raised his hand and then swiped it to his side, a zigzagging bolt of light firing out of the Grell as he did so. This light, also known as the Grell's Hand, cut through the air before Malbex, opening up a portal. Focusing on the destination he wanted to arrive in, Malbex stepped into this portal and once he was inside it sealed shut behind him.

Wind lashed at all his sides, blowing his cloak to and fro. As he moved through this gateway an odd feeling arose within him as though a piece of him were being chipped away. He soon recalled what the feeling was: the Grell using some of his strength to take him out of the Twilight Realm. Even though it was powerful, not even it could remove someone from one dimension to another by itself.

Soon, the heavy gales began to die away and the cool air of shoreline blessed his face. He closed his eyes as the portal dissolved around him, leaving him standing upon flat terrain with the scent of salt filling his nostrils. Slowly, Malbex opened his eyes to see a single large ship docked at a harbor before him. He glanced to his right to see the town that the seaport belonged to, though his gaze did not linger enough to take in its details.

The town that he did not observe was the town of Xerxes, which was located in the country of Albaan—Albaan being just over the mountains that bordered it from the Gerudo Desert of Hyrule. Seagulls flew and called to one another over this town, occasionally swooping down to devour some forsaken food. On the edge of the town closest to the harbor, a group of boys played a game of Kickball and within the town people bustled around, completing errands or rushing to the home of a companion or perhaps even to work. On a hill overlooking the community was a pasture, filled with livestock grazing in the grass; a shepherd tended to these flocks, a rod and staff in hand. Xerxes was indeed an average town, famous because it held many opportunities for those seeking to start a new life.

Malbex made his way towards the ship docked at one of the piers, searching for its captain.

For he had a favor to ask.

* * *

_He's gone...right?_

The boy pressed one of his long ears to the door of the closet he was locked in. He could barely hear anything through it but he was sure that he heard the sound of a Grell's Hand tearing through space. That had to mean that his brother had departed the Twilight Realm, did it not? But the boy did not wish to take his chances: he did not know where Malbex had gone and he did not know when he would be back. He would need to work quickly.

The boy, Morbex, crawled back to the corner of the closet that he had tucked himself in when his sibling had brought him food. The banging noise that the man had probably heard had been the sound of Morbex falling backward and slamming the back of his head against the door—the reason for his being thrown off balance was because of his attempting to create a Grell of his own.

From his homeland, only a select few sorcerers of high stature were capable of creating a Grell—and Morbex was one of them. But, prior to his being kidnapped and taken to the Twilight Realm, Malbex had cursed him so that he could not even use half of his power. As such, creating the Grell had taken much longer than he wanted it to. He had first started to create the transporter a few days after he and his sibling had first arrived in the Twilight Realm, which was around a month and a half ago. Had Morbex been at his full strength, creating the Grell would have only taken a few moments. This was, in fact, much quicker than even the most powerful sorcerer from his home could make a Grell.

In his weakened state Morbex had almost completely forgotten how to create the stone. As such he had to write the instructions upon the wall—he had cleverly written them in a language that he knew his brother had not studied—in order to remind himself. And now, finally, he had reached the final step.

From the corner of the room Morbex retrieved the half-made stone and he clutched it in his hand. He was far below weak now seeing as he had used most of his strength to simply create the stone. Now he needed to pour some of his energy into it so that it could become a full-fledged Grell.

Morbex wrapped his fingers around the small gem and before he gave away his strength he reached for the tray of food. He clutched the cup in his free hand and tipped it, dumping the liquid down his throat. He recognized its flavor, though it was flat, as a drink used from back home.

Once the drink was finished, Morbex reached for the bowl of porridge, pushing the stale bread aside as he did. He drank the gruel from the dish, ignoring how some of it trickled down his chin and plopped into his lap. With his appetite satisfied, Morbex returned his attention to the stone in his hand.

He cupped it in both of his hands and closed his eyes, willing the magic within him to transfer into the stone. A cool blue light emanated from his body and seconds later the Grell, too, began to glow. With each passing second, Morbex's body felt weaker and frailer; he did not know how much more he could give. He parted his once tightly pressed lips in order to suck in more oxygen for his heaving lungs. Finally, he released his concentration and his eyes flew open. He remained knelt upon the floor, his vision furry and his mind spinning in its dizziness. Then the fragile boy fell on his side and the complete Grell clattered out of his grasp.

Morbex's cheek was flat against the cold, stone ground, cooling his sweaty and clammy face. Gradually he pushed himself up into a sitting position and he looked around the closet, searching for the crystal that was once in his hand; though each movement of his eyeballs weakened him even more, Morbex did not cease.

Spotting it against the wall glowing warmly, he reached out to it and closed his fingers around it. He quickly read the last section of his wall-written notes, finding that if the Grell's glow did not fade then the task of creating it was complete. Morbex looked to the Grell and a feeling of pride swelled within him. He had done it.

And now he had to test it.

Morbex took a number of shaky breaths and he forced his trembling fingers to completely close over the Grell, causing its glow to be seen only by the small slivers of its light that slipped through his fingers. His gasps for breath became larger when he felt the gem's energy fuse with what was left of his, temporarily reuniting him with the energy he had previously pushed out of himself. Morbex pressed the powerful gem to his forehead, his eyes closed as he formed only one thought in his mind: _Take me to my brother._

Then, slowly, Morbex moved his hand across the air and a zigzagging light erupted from the gem with a cracking noise. The sound gave Morbex a headache unlike any he had ever felt before and he winced as his head painfully throbbed. The Grell's Hand caught in the air and pried it apart, forming a portal before the small boy. Unable to draw himself to his feet, Morbex simply crawled forward and pulled himself into the portal.

Inside the gateway wind charged towards him and bowled into him, whipping his hair around his face and deafening his hearing as it howled in his ears. Behind him the portal sealed shut and he felt himself tumbling forward, the Grell still firmly clasped within his hand. Amidst all of the thoughts of pain that were running through his mind, Morbex forced himself to repeat what he wanted the Grell to do for him: _Take me to Malbex, take me to Malbex, take me to Malbex..._

Then, the Grell began to sap the rest of Morbex's strength as it drew him out of the realm of Twilight. Morbex felt the blood drain from his face—he had truly not expected that his brother had exited the world his hideout was in.

His fingers grew numb and he hurtled through the tunnel of the gateway, his eyes clenched shut and his mind still repeating itself to the point where he was almost begging.

Then, he heard the sound of what he presumed to be an ocean and he could smell salt lingering in the air. Was this where his brother had gone: the ocean? But which one was it?

Morbex opened his eyes to see and what he saw was a large and vast blue sea beneath the horizon of a mid-afternoon sun. He could see a single ship docked at a seaport, hear the sounds of seagulls communicating with one another. A soft smile of happiness spread across Morbex's face—he had arrived...!

But then everything came to a slow and steady halt.

And the image of the shoreline, the ocean and the ship exploded into dust, shimmering out of Morbex's view.

_No..._

Morbex stretched out a hand, only managing to grasp a few particles of powder of the image that had once existed before him. Morbex brought the hand that was carrying the Grell up to his face, horrified when he saw that the stone was nothing more than a pile of crystallized rubble in his palm.

And he fell.

_No...!_

Down he went, until the upper half of his body could not hold itself up anymore and he leaned backward until his posture was vertical to the direction he was falling.

_No, I have to stop him...from following through with his plan..._

Morbex's eyes squeezed shut, his hand firmly clasped around the broken pieces of his Grell. What had gone wrong? Where did he go wrong in making the Grell?

Then, the rush of air pounding on the crown of his head lowered to a calm breeze, catching him as he fell. This steady wind carried Morbex softly down another couple of feet until he felt his back press against what he presumed to be a dirt path. The boy allowed his eyes to flutter open and he caught sight of a clear and beautiful blue sky before he let his eyelids slam shut. He had not been sent back to the closet in the Twilight Realm but...where was he?

He heard the sound of footsteps pounding their way towards him and he flinched, afraid of what the owners of those feet might do to him. Instead he felt a soft hand touch his shoulder and this eased his anxious nerves only a little. Behind the person touching him, Morbex heard the voice of a young boy mutter, "What the..."

"Hey, are you all right?" It was a girl's voice and Morbex could tell that the hand belonged to her. She removed her hand when Morbex did not respond, for he was too weak to even moan. Then, another voice came to his ears, another young boy's:

"Illia!" he called. "He's not waking up...!"

"We need to take him somewhere..." the previous girl said as more people crowded around Morbex's fallen body. From then on the sounds of people speaking was nothing more than a dull moan to him.

The blue-skinned boy allowed his head to loll to the side, causing his cheek to press against the dirt path, and his fingers unfurled to reveal the remains of his unsuccessful Grell.

* * *

Link clambered over another ridge of the desert and raised his head over its top to see beyond it. Now higher than the large hill, the Hylian could see a large flatland that led to a seaport with a single ship docked at one of its piers. Around a half mile on the harbor's right was a bustling city and Link briefly examined the pasture that the town owned, reminded of his forest home. What he would give to relax in that pasture after trekking through the blasted heat of the Gerudo Desert...

But Link did not pay much attention to the town of Xerxes for his eyes caught sight of the fairly noticeable Great Sea. He had not seen a body of water larger than Hyrule's Lake Hylia and so the sight of the ocean overwhelmed him. He drank in the size of its vastness, watching as it sparkled magically in the light of the late sun.

Link then climbed over the ridge and skidded down its opposite side, relishing in the feeling of the wind blowing over his heated face. He emerged from a crowd of bushes at the elevation's base, jogging a few more steps in order to slowly decrease the momentum he had gained from sliding down the hill. He paused here, staring at the ocean from a distance before he finally approached it, stopping just before he set foot upon one of the wooden piers. Using his a hand as a shade for his eyes, Link gazed out over the horizon and no matter which way he looked, he could not see the end of the sea. He whistled.

"It's huge..."

"It seems you've never seen the sea before, my friend."

Link turned at the sound of the voice, barely startled for he had grown used to things sneaking up on him. Standing at a respectable distance behind him was a lean man, his thin blue eyes shimmering as he too gazed upon the sea before them. His fair, silky hair blew lightly in the breeze beneath his dark hat and his arms were crossed over his chest. In a scabbard on his side was a Barbary cutlass sword. The man's gaze flicked over to Link before readjusting upon the majestic view.

"Or have you seen one but not as great as this one?" In reply, Link merely shook his head. "Ah, I see. I've come across a number of people that say that they have never seen the Great Sea before, or any ocean for that matter. And I must say they are missing quite a bit." A distant and peaceful smile spread across the man's face. Link drew himself out of his entrancement by the sea to look to the man behind him.

"...You've seen a lot of people, you said?" he inquired and the man nodded for a response, looking to Link out of the corner of his eye. "Then have you ever seen this certain group of people: a large woman with red hair, an elderly man in a hooded, green jumper, a younger woman with dark hair and a sort of baleful eye and a young man with large glasses?"

The man paused. He fully turned to face Link and his passive smile faded only a little. "Quite a description. Now, let's see..." He looked towards the ground as he tried to recall seeing anyone that even remotely matched Link's description. "Ah, yes, I do think I saw some people like that around...hmm, three weeks ago." This was good; three weeks was approximately around the time that they had vanished from Hyrule. "But then again I'm not completely sure."

Link did not allow the latter comment to disappoint him. "Well, if you saw someone who looked like them, do you know where they went?"

"Yes, I believe they were asking for someone to take them to Arkania, about a two and a half weeks' travel from here."

"Arkania..." Link had never before heard of that country name before. But he had never traveled outside of Hyrule's borders; from now on, he expected everything to be new to him. Link redirected his attention towards the man before him. "Do you know how I can get there?"

"By a ship of course," the man answered, that somewhat unnerving but serene smile appearing on his face again. Link could not dismiss the idea that he felt as though the man were hiding something with that smile: he had never seen someone look so at peace before.

"Well...do you have a ship?"

"Yes, I do. I am captain of this ship, the _Maysee._" The man inclined his head towards the single ship swaying lightly in the waves of the Great Sea.

"Please, can you take me there as soon as you can?" Link asked and the man, to his surprise, complied.

"Yes; we were going to set sail and head for the place today actually," the captain informed Link. He looked over to the large sea vessel. "Though we were a bit delayed in leaving by a sudden turn of events." He had paused before he had said the last three words, arousing a small cloud of suspicion in the Hyrulean. "You've never been aboard a ship before, have you?" Link shook his head. "Then, I shall be generous and allow you passage on my ship, free of charge." Link nodded gratefully and followed the ship captain to his vessel. Before the cargo bridge, the man turned to face Link.

"And I failed to introduce myself before," he started, "so I shall now: my name is Zorr Flamberg, Captain of this wondrous ship the _Maysee_. And you might be?"

"Link."

"Well then," Zorr held his hand out to the ship, "welcome aboard the _Maysee_, Link."

But the Hyrulean was so engrossed in the sight of the ship that he did not see the once calm and welcoming smile on Zorr's face melt into a dark and malicious smirk.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Link watched the waves crashing against the _Maysee _with an exhausted expression as he hung over the ship's railing. With every wave that splashed against the ship's side he was given the sudden urge to retch. "Severe sea-sickness", as Captain Zorr had called it, was popular and nothing to worry about but nevertheless Link had felt nervous when he discovered that he too had it. His immune system was powerful enough to fight off regular sicknesses—it was a completely new experience for him.

To distract himself from his stomach's constant groaning he looked over the horizon, watching distant islands come and go as the ship passed them by. Hours later, he spotted a rather large piece of land somewhere ahead of them, but remembered that Zorr had guaranteed a definite two and a half week travel before they arrived in Arkania. He had lost track of the days but knew that it could not have been two and a half weeks just yet. Although he knew it would happen, Link still felt a pang of disappointment as the _Maysee _drifted in the opposite direction of the island.

Link drummed his fingers on the railing, focusing all of his attention on the skyline. Time clocked by slowly, and thus Link thought that if he helped around the ship he wouldn't feel as though he were waiting so long.

The only flaw in Link's idea was that once the ship was off and sailing, work was hardly needed to be done. Some of the crew members would be found anywhere on the vessel, talking to one another and sometimes even gambling. A majority of the time Link would leave the above decks and head back to his cabin to rest; sneaking by the gambling crewman on his way there became a regular daily activity.

As a result, every day for Link repeated itself with the same activities that were done the day before: wake up in the morning, arrive for meals at the bell, feel sick, stare out at the horizon, sneak back to the cabin, sleep. He longed for the days in Ordon where boredom wasn't so quick to strike. There he was busy with taking care of the goats and on his days off keeping the children of Ordon company. Perhaps this was a sudden homesickness he felt. If not that it was a longing to reach dry land and get out of the constantly rocking ship.

Only a few repetitive days later did Link overhear a few of the crew members speaking to one another about the date: according to their sense of time they had been out at sea for nearly two weeks. Just hearing that news eased Link's stomach and only for a moment his feeling of nausea seeped away. Quickly it returned when the _Maysee _was hit with another wave, this one harder than before. The ship lurched heavily and that's when the hero's "severe sea-sickness" reached its limit: he threw up.

Link pulled himself back over the railing and groaned, cursing the ocean's unsteady movements. In his peripheral vision he could see dark clouds slowly moving in their direction, stretching wider as though they too wanted to be as large as the sea.

Behind him he could hear the sailors who had been talking about the date pointing out the storm and discussing if it would hit them before they reached Arkania. A few of them were already complaining about the work that they would need to do while others were thinking that it would finally be something to do. Still others predicted that if the gods were on their side they'd be able to reach their destination before the heavy storm reached them.

Link could only hope that it wouldn't make his stomach feel worse than it already did. Just as he was thinking this, his attention was drawn to a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see who it was that had come to him and ended up dropping his gaze to about a foot below him.

Standing before him was a small boy. Link didn't recognize him; he had not seen him at all anywhere on the ship. The boy's dark hair blew clumsily in the light wind and he stared up at Link with dark, emotionless eyes. But what Link noticed clearly about the child before him were his ears. His _Hylian _ears.

The boy raised his hands that were carrying a small bowl of some sort of soup, offering it to Link. "Here." Link looked from the hot bowl of soup to the vacant-looking boy before him, then back to the bowl.

"What is it?"

"Master ordered for me to give this to you," the boy replied shortly. "He says that it will help your stomach."

"Oh...thank you." Link raised the bowl to his lips, and right when he was about to tilt it back and pour the soup down his throat, he froze and looked back to the boy. "Er...'master'?"

"The Captain. He is my Master." Link stared down to the boy, incredulous, trying to define what he meant by "master". In the end, Link settled on the idea that it was probably nothing for him to worry about. With that thought in mind, Link once again tilted the bowl back and slurped down the soup. It was hot—hotter than he had thought it was and it singed his tongue. He choked and dropped the bowl from his mouth and let his jaw hang open to let in some air to cool down his tongue.

"It's what I get for dumping it down my throat thoughtlessly," he thought aloud, inwardly laughing at himself.

"You got some on your shirt," the boy noted, pointing to the small stain on Link's green tunic. He then took the bowl from Link's hands, furrowing his brow as he examined Link's outfit, as though he were trying to remember something. _Those clothes..._

"Oh, look at that!" Link looked down and pulled the stained part of his tunic up so that he could see it a bit better. "Thanks. I wouldn't have noticed it..." He trailed off, noticing the boy staring up at him, but this time not with the same impassive expression he was wearing earlier: it had cracked into a look of surprise and behind it desperation and a hint of hope.

"A-are you...could you be..." He never finished his sentence for the two were interrupted.

"Darwin!" The boy snapped his head in the direction of the voice so hurriedly that Link swore it could have hurt. "There you are, you sneak!" One of the crewman was headed in the direction of the two, his eyes squinting through the sunlight, forming wrinkles above his brow. His face was pulled into a deep frown of anger as he approached the boy, presumably Darwin. "Get movin' runt—who said you could come up here? And what's that?" The man nodded his head to the bowl in Darwin's hands.

"O-oh..." Darwin's face fell back into its previous stoic appearance. "I was giving Mister Link something for his stomachache."

"Oh? And who gave you the order to do that?"

Darwin's guard slightly broke as the question hit him with the force of a blow to the chest. "I-I..." Though his face appeared impassive, Link could hear the worry in the child's voice. But why could this be? Link was sure that Darwin had explained that Zorr had ordered for him to give Link the hearty soup.

"Well, who? I'm pretty sure it wasn't the Cap'n! Did you sneak up here? Well?" Darwin bit his lip, attempting to hide his fear. The sailor was quickly growing impatient and grabbed a handful of Darwin's shirt. "So you tryin' to keep quiet, huh? You lied your way up here, didn't ya? You pathetic, silver tongued brat!" The sailor released Darwin and as quick as he had dropped him, struck him across the face.

"What are you doing?" Link shouted, throwing himself in between the two. "Beating a kid—!" The sailor stepped back in surprise, as though it were horrifying to see someone protecting someone else. He quickly regained his composure and stepped forward, glaring down to Link who looked back with the same fierceness.

"Defending him, huh?" The sailor laughed loudly and it gained the attention of others nearby. "He's nothing but a stupid brat! A slave, that's what he is!"

"Slave?" Link repeated. He glanced back to Darwin who was slowly getting up from the ground, caressing his bruised cheek. His eyes were shining with possible tears as he rose and he felt them and turned away.

"Do I hear an echo?" the sailor shouted, clearly irked by the situation. "He's a slave: and they're s'posed to do what they're told to! This twerp is not allowed above decks!" He lowered his voice into a threatening tone, "And now he's gonna get the punishment he so rightly deserves...!" The sailor attempted to push by Link, but Link held his footing, unwilling to move.

The sailor realized this and aimed a clumsy punch for Link's jaw to knock him out of the way. The crowd that had gathered to watch cheered as Link avoided the blow, their shouts carrying over the ship and beyond. "Do you want to take the discipline for him then?" the sailor roared

He threw punch after punch, none of them connecting. Link slipped around the sailor after ducking below another straightforward attack and the sailor whipped around, his hands reaching for any part of Link he could get in his wide movement. His hands managed to grasp the Hylian's tunic. "Then fine!" He raised his other fist to punch Link square in the face, and Link braced himself yet still managed to glower at the sailor.

"I'm relaxing in my cabin and then all of a sudden I hear shouting and cheering! What are you all—what is this?" Captain Zorr was pushing through the crowd and interrupted his own words as he laid eyes on the sight of one of his crewmen ready to hit Link with all his might. The sailor hurriedly dropped the green-clad man and tried to think of what to say. He repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, yet no words came out.

"It...was my fault, Master," Darwin said, stepping towards him. "I...should not have come up here..." Zorr didn't remove his eyes from the two men as his servant spoke and no one was sure if he had heard him or not. The sailors that had gathered to watch the short fight began to disperse. Only a few of them lingered for a few more seconds before taking their leave as well.

"I'm disappointed," Zorr said, scowling at the sailor that was still struggling to think up an explanation. "Swab the deck. And from now until we reach Arkania—" his eyes flicked over to Darwin—"you will be Link's servant." The sailor dropped his jaw in shock, looking from the Captain to Link and back in horror.

"But,but Cap'n—"

"Do you want the "traditional" punishment instead?"

"N-no Cap'n...but—"

"Then get working."

Without another word the sailor left, heading below decks to get the necessary supplies. Zorr stepped by Darwin without a glance and approached Link. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Link replied, straightening up and smoothing the wrinkles out of his tunic. "You didn't have to do that."

"Do what?"

"Make him my servant."

"Oh? And why would that be?"

Link bit his tongue before he said something that he knew he would regret. In response he just shook his head and said shortly, "I don't want one." Zorr appeared disappointed and sighed.

"Well, if that's how you feel, I'll give him the "traditional" punishment instead." Zorr turned to walk away and once a few feet ahead of Darwin ordered him to follow. Darwin glanced back to Link then followed his Master below decks.

For the next few days, Link's stomach was no longer bothering him. He gave credit to the soup that Darwin had made and had searched the ship for him to give him a proper thanks. However he could not find the small boy anywhere aboard the ship. It was as though he had vanished altogether. Admitting defeat, Link headed back above decks and heard the shout that he had been awaiting for a long while.

"_Land ho_!"

Heart pounding with exhilaration, Link rushed to the shrouds on the forecastle deck. He gripped them tightly and leaned over to see the land of Arkania.

Even from where they were he could see the city they were approaching thriving with people, all of them bustling about. Other ships were docked at the harbor, swaying lightly with the gently moving ocean. He could hear the citizens' voices carrying over the ocean and faint music coming from street performers. As the _Maysee _pulled closer to the pier, Zorr called orders to dock. Once the ship was stopped at the harbor, its anchor snug in the ocean below, the cargo bridge was lowered.

The first road that could be spotted from the harbor was the flea market. It was teeming with people, many of them with cheerful expressions upon their lightly tanned faces. Children could be seen weaving through the legs of the adults before being scooped up by their nearby parents, scolding them for running off. On both sides of the wide road were a few merchant stands selling souvenirs, small trinkets and a variety of other things. Doors were open to many different shops, including a bakery and even a shop for clothing. Wide fields were surrounding the heart of the city, a few farms scattered among them along with other cozy homes.

"Welcome to Arkania, Link." Link angled his head to look behind him to see Captain Zorr. As usual, he was silent when he approached. "This here is the port city: Peluma." Link looked back to the large town, his eyes taking in the vastness of it. He reminded himself that he was not there to relax and take in the sights, but he was there to locate Telma and her company. They could be anywhere, and Link was sure that it would definitely take a long while. "You're here to search for your friends, aren't you?" Zorr inquired.

"That's the plan," Link answered, getting down from the shrouds. "But this place is so huge...it could take a while..."

"Well, take your time then," Zorr said, his calm expression breaking into a small smile. "It wouldn't be a good idea to rush you in your search, right?"

"So...you guys are going to wait?" Link asked. The Captain shrugged.

"Well, the crew's been begging for a rest at land for a while. When we stop somewhere it's usually to restock our supplies. So I guess you could say that you were lucky when you first found us. Had you showed up any later..."

A faint hissing sound and shouting sounded from above them and the two looked up to see what it was. Link's surprise showed clearly on his face as, above their heads and zipping through the air, were people on what looked like flying boards.

"Are those people...flying?" he managed to ask, making sure he wasn't just seeing things.

"Ah...the Hover Racers," Zorr said, mostly to himself. When Link turned with a look of question, the _Maysee_ captain began to explain: "How they got the technology for it, no one is sure of. In fact, no one is really knows who they even are. But that group of kids have designed what they call 'hover boards', boards that can support their weight while flying hundreds of feet in the air and can also move at a fast pace. In turn, the people have called them 'Hover Racers'. However sometimes one of them loses control...who knows when one could come crashing down. You wouldn't want to end up with the doctor on your first day in a new place, so just watch out for them."

"I will. Thanks for the tip!" Link jogged down to the cargo bridge and headed down to the pier. He squeezed by a few of the _Maysee _crew membersthat were standing upon the small wooden platform built above the sea and stepped foot onto the dirt path and into the city.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Peluma was indeed large and completely unknown to him. As he had guessed before, searching for Telma and her allies in such a completely new environment would prove to be a difficult task. But he had braved other challenges such as this; he would face this job with the same determination.

_Who should I ask first_, he wondered, searching the harbor. Mostly sailors were milling about, some of them rolling barrels full of provisions to a stock nearby or generally wandering around and greeting others. Link made his way up to one of them, hoping that he may have spotted one of the missing Hyruleans pass through.

The sailor, noting Link headed his way, directed his attention towards him. In the bright afternoon sun the sailor's tanned skin was granted a reddish tint, and as Link drew closer, it grew slightly redder with agitation. He promptly changed his expression once Link was closer, furrowing his brow to see in the bright day rather than in ire.

Link guessed that Telma and her group took around two and a half weeks to cross the ocean as he came closer to the sailor. He chose to not spend more time than he needed on his search and made his way to the point: "Around three weeks ago a few Hylians and one Hyrulean passed through here," he started, ignoring the sailor's twitch when he uttered the two 'H' words. "Do you think that you saw them at all? Or where they headed?"

"Hylians, huh?" The sailor slightly stretched the word out, as though it were difficult for him to say it. "Huh...well, three weeks ago I wasn't even here. But, usually newcomers may end up goin' to the tavern. It's down that road there—" the sailor pointed to the busy road behind Link— "it's a bit small and easy to miss but it's got a big sign on it. If you pay attention you'll find it. Just ask the bartender for the people you're lookin' for." After saying that the sailor walked around Link, continuing the way that he was going before the young man had come to him.

Link took the sailor's advice and headed down the dirt road, maneuvering through the large crowds of people. He kept an eye out for the tap house and after going up and down the street a few times, had to ask for clearer directions. He received the information he needed from a stout, elderly woman who had a similar reaction to his appearance as the sailor had. Link brushed the strangeness of the two off his shoulder and pushed open the doors of the tavern and stepped inside.

Raised voices and singing filled Link's ears as he took another step forth. A majority of the inhabitants of the room were sitting in groups, crossing jokes to one another and laughing heartily. A few others were sitting aloof, lost in their own thoughts and staring blankly ahead of them. Tables and chairs were scattered across the room giving it the feel of a child's untidy bedroom. Underneath one of the chairs Link could see someone laying flat on their stomach, an empty glass held loosely in their unconscious hand.

One of the men who had been singing in his drunk voice only a moment earlier took a large swig of his drink. As he placed the glass back on the table his eyes caught sight of Link standing by the door.

He stared dumbly at the young man's ears and said loud enough for those close enough to hear, "A...Hylian!" Slowly people turned to look and the loud voices and miserable singing fell into silence. Their expressions were that of curiosity, surprise, anger or confusion.

In a far corner, only one had the look of pure hatred as she watched Link walk towards the bar. Her green eyes shimmered with rage and her lips pursed together. Under the table she gripped her gray shorts tightly, struggling to refrain from jumping out to attack the Hylian garmented in green. "Him..."

As Link came closer to the counter he could feel the eyes of everyone in the room glued on him. A few of the people in the room were muttering to one another under their breath and glancing up to Link every so often as though making sure that he wasn't listening in on them.

"Is 'e crazy?"

"Does 'e know what cou' happen?"

"He must not be from here."

"Aye, overseas then."

"But the only place that has people like him overseas would be..."

"Ya numskull, tha' place ain't real!"

"Ssh, quiet!"

The bartender, confused as to why everything became quiet so suddenly came from the further end of the tavern and walked behind the counter, jumping when he laid eyes on Link. He looked over the room once more and slowly the room resolved to low speech as everyone averted their attention from Link.

"How can I help ye today?" the bartender asked politely, placing his hands on the counter, eying Link closely through one squinted eye. "Come fer a drink, aye?"

"No. But I'd like to know if you saw some people pass through here," Link started. "Three Hylians and a single Hyrulean." A hushed gasp echoed throughout the room. The people turned to one another again, hurriedly discussing the words that Link had just said.

"Hyrulean? From _the_ Hyrule?"

"I thought that place didn't exist!."

"But he just said it...it's possible—"

The bartender leaned in, lowering his voice to an audible whisper as the room became crowded with the sounds of low murmuring. "Did ye say 'Hyrulean'?" Link nodded. "Well bless my soul...I haven't 'eard that word in a long while." A wry smile spread across the barkeeper's face, forming wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. "If ye want to know where ye friends are, yer best off givin' up." Link's eyes narrowed, comfortably hiding his suspicion and confusion. "If there were three Hylians as ye said, they're probably long gone. How long ago did they arrive?"

"Three weeks."

"Aye, they're long gone," the bartender repeated in a more confident tone. "Taken to the ol' Thrall Cell most likely." Link opened his mouth to inquire but the bartender spoke over him, "but if yer so intent on findin' 'em, why not search the streets for an' ol' friend o' mine...she does paintings o' people. She might've spotted 'em."

Link didn't ask any further questions but kept the name "Thrall Cell" in his mind. He nodded to the bartender in farewell and took his leave.

As the doors swung shut behind him, the young, green-eyed woman hidden in the corner quickly gathered her things and swung her cloak around herself, draping it over her figure. She hurried to make sure that her light brown hair was covering her pointed ears and left as discreetly as possible.

Once she exited the bar she searched up and down the road for any sign of Link. To her dismay she could find him nowhere. She cursed under her breath and walked up the street, pulling the hood of her traveling cloak over her head as she blended into the busy crowds.

Link pushed through the herd of people in the street, creating as much distance between himself and the bar as possible. He was already feeling uncomfortable in this city by the sea. Everywhere he walked he felt eyes sticking to him. The voices of the people crowding the flea market filled his ears, drowning out the sounds of the murmurs of people presumably speaking of him. The hero finally made his way to the edge of the tight road and headed down a less crowded street.

Houses lined this brick-paved road, small, cozy homes each built in their own custom style. Every few habitations owned a small garden in their front or their sides, and every now and then he passed by an empty lot. Further down the road the location of the homes began to spread out, revealing fresh green plains as luscious as the fields of Hyrule.

Link kept his footing as beneath his feet the feeling of brick melted into dirt. The path stretched and weaved ahead of him, expanding into the wide fields and leading to a few distant farms and beyond. It was then Link realized that the bartender had given him no clue as to where the artisan was. He groaned in annoyance and turned on the spot, walking back into the depths of the city of Peluma.

Unlike aboard the _Maysee _time flew by seeing as now Link had a task to do: locate the craftsman. He traveled back to the marketplace, searching up and down the street. The road was not only wide but long. Instead of hurrying around and glancing about, Link took his time and searched for any sign of someone who appeared to be crafting something. With this strategy, he was sure that he was less likely to have need of asking someone for the artisan's whereabouts. Anything to avoid being looked at like an alien again.

Although, he was from out of town.

Link could tell that he was searching for hours. The road was slowly filling with more empty space. He appreciated the privilege of being able to move through less cramped space and was able to see the shops clearer. He looked around once more and was about to move on when a gasp came from behind him.

"Oh...oh!" Link turned to the sound of the woman's voice; she sounded fairly close.

And she was.

Standing only a few feet away from Link was a woman looking to be around twenty or so. Her red, shoulder-length hair was frizzy and save a few strands was held back by an orange scarf. Her brown eyes were staring at Link with adoration as though he were an idol that she had wanted to meet for a long while. Her hands were clasped together against her chest and she looked as though she would faint at any given moment. Link turned completely to face her and the woman suppressed a cry of excitement.

"I'm so glad that I stayed out a bit later today!" she exclaimed as she clutched her bright orange apron. Her hands were dotted with different colors of paint and a few splotches were spread across her outfit. "That strong figure...such a proud posture! And a Hylian to boot!" She was practically trembling with apprehension. "I...I must!"

Link took a wary step back.

"No, please don't run! I'm an artisan and...I have to paint you!"

"You what?" Link stared at the overexcited woman.

"Paint!" the woman repeated. She walked towards Link with hurried steps and in less than a moment she was circling around him, muttering her approval under her breath. "Yes, perfect! Oh, please let me do this! I would appreciate it!"

Her eyes grew larger as she pleaded, her hands once again fastened together. Unable to take such a begging look any longer, Link gave in. The woman cheered and grabbed Link's hand, urging him to her stand. Her shouts of glee and continuous "thank yous" sounded throughout the marketplace.

She sat Link down on a stool by her stand and took a step back, rubbing her chin as she analyzed him. "Hmm...oh, this won't do!" She slid around Link, tearing the shield off his back with such force that he nearly toppled out of the seat. "And neither will this!" She tugged the floppy green hood off his head and he shivered as the oceanic breeze blew threw his hair. "Now that's lovely!" She placed the shield and hood in a corner, beneath a shelf of blank canvases and a small container of paintbrushes. The redheaded woman then proceeded to put Link in a pose.

Link had never felt so uncomfortable. The woman's hands continuously tilted his head, pushed him further down or pulled him up to a straighter position. She stood back again, tapping her chin and snapped her fingers as an idea popped into her head. She bent over and pushed Link down a bit more, placing his elbow on his knees and making his chin rest on his hand. Link made no effort to resist as the woman forced him into this position. The woman then stood back to examine her work, frowning as she did.

"Look straight ahead." Link did so. "Relax a little. Don't be so tense. And look forward with a sort of bored look. Yes, that's it..." She tapped her chin and then nodded the clear. "All right! Now I'll start."

The woman pulled up another stool and took out the canvas that was behind it, setting it adjacent from Link. Once in a good position to paint and be able to look back to Link for reference she took out some paintbrushes from a pocket and, taking pallet in hand began to paint. "Oh, how rude of me!" she said suddenly, her brush stopping just before the canvas. "I didn't even introduce myself: I'm Elsie. And you are?"

"Colin," Link said after a brief silence.

"Colin?" Elsie turned back to the painting and began her work. "That's a nice name...in fact, I have a friend named Colin."

"You do?" Link shifted slightly to look at her.

"Please don't move." Link moved back into the pose. "And yes...he's a rather old family friend. The bartender. You're new aren't you? So you probably ended up going to his place, didn't you?"

"I did, actually," Link answered, struggling to ignore a sudden itch he had on the tip of his nose. "I went to him to ask if he saw some friends of mine pass through here. He told me to come and see you."

"Eh?" Elsie peeked around her canvas.

"Yeah," Link confirmed. "He said that you might have spotted them since you do paintings of people."

"Hmm..." Elsie glanced from Link to her painting then resumed her work. "What'd they look like?"

"There were four of them," Link started. "Three of them Hylian, like me."

"More Hylians?" Elsie uttered. "We seem to get so many of them nowadays. But you're from overseas, right? We never knew that Hylians came from overseas. I didn't anyway. Most of them come from neighboring lands like Kenderis or as far as the Corva Isles. I even heard that they don't come here of their own will! And then just as quick as they arrive they leave. I wonder if maybe the Governess knows...?" She trailed off.

"They don't come willingly?" Link looked over to her, curiosity rising in his expression. "And then they just vanish?"

"Yeah..." Elsie moved to look over to Link again and he hastily sat back in his position from before. "No one knows where they go. But I've heard rumors that they end up going to this place called the 'Thrall Cell'."

"Thrall Cell...Colin the bartender mentioned that place too," Link thought aloud. "Where is it?"

A paintbrush clattered to the floor. "Y-you want to actually _go _there?" she asked, skeptically.

"If there's the possibility that my friends are there," Link answered confidently.

"Well, the truth is I don't know where it is," Elsie said after a moment. For a short while all that was heard was the paintbrush sweeping against the oil painting. "I don't really think that anyone else does either." Her voice sounded contrite.

"I see..." Link faded into his own thoughts.

The two sat in silence for hours. Occasionally Elsie would mutter something under her breath or refill her pallet. Finally she eyed her oil painting critically, added a few more details with a smaller paintbrush then set the drawing utensil down in her lap.

"Perfect," she whispered. "All done!"

Link came out of his trance and realized sullenly that it was nighttime. The street was empty and all that could be heard were the waves crashing against the ships and other sailing boats at the harbor. The wind had picked up speed and was busy blowing dirt and loose items through the street, howling all the while.

"Ooh, it sounds like a storm," Elsie said, standing up and peeking around the road. "Looks like another big one..." She glanced over to Link who was standing up and stretching his stiff muscles. "Doesn't look like it won't start raining and all that until the day after tomorrow though." She walked back to the oil painting and took it off its stand. She gazed at it for a moment then held it out to Link, almost reluctantly. "Here."

"What?" After scratching his nose Link had re-equipped his shield and placed his green hood back on his head.

"It's yours," Elsie said, offering the painting to him again. "And since you let me paint you and even modeled for me, I'll give it to you for only ten Arkans! Or 'coins' to some..."

"...Arkans?"

"Eh? Oh, that's right you're not from here..." Elsie placed the canvas back on the stand and wandered over to a small velvet bag that was seated behind her stand. She fished through it for the currency that was used in the country. Her fingers latched around something cold and hard and she pulled it out. "This"— she held up a silver coin that could fit in the palm of her hand. A square-shaped hole was located at the top of it—"is a Coin. This small silver one is worth twenty by the way. But you don't have any..."

"Um...do you want to keep it then?" he asked, nodding his head to the painting of himself. "I don't really have need of it anyway..." Elsie remained stiff for a few seconds before her face broke into an ecstatic smile.

"Of course!" she said a bit too joyously. "A lot of paintings I do I'd like to keep but they get bought. But that's how I have to make my money, right?" She smiled sheepishly, walking over to the painting and tracing an invisible line across it. "This is one of those pictures..." She turned to Link. "Thank you very much."

"No problem really," Link answered and headed for the exit. "Well, thanks for your help." Elsie nodded and after Link left, hurried to gather her things together and return home.

The sun was barely visible behind the horizon. The only thing that could be seen was the faint orange light that came from it. In the distance he could see the clouds of the storm that had followed the _Maysee _all the way to sighed inwardly knowing that he would now have to wait until the next day to continue asking around for Telma and her allies. A part of him wished that the four had never journeyed out of Hyrule, thus he wouldn't even have to be dealing with the situation.

_What did they even leave for?_

Princess Zelda told him that she had a vision of them journeying outside of Hyrule. Certainly she knew what drove them to suddenly leave. He couldn't shake the feeling that she had hidden something from him, for a reason he wasn't able to decipher.

He tried thinking up his own reasons for why Telma might have fled Hyrule. As far as he knew she received the things that she needed for her tavern. Visiting family was out of the question: unless Shad, Ashei and Auru knew them as well. But why have family all the way in a land that seemed as though it had never seen a Hylian before? He nearly laughed at himself for even looking into the problem in such a way.

Link stopped himself before crashing into a brick building. The tall construction blocked his path, reaching for the skies and above. A rather large clock was at the top of it, ticking loudly in the night. His ears twitched with every resounding '_tock_' and he turned on his heel to get away from it. Only a few roads away did a different sound catch his attention: a faint whistling was coming from the sky, growing ever louder. Mixing with it was the sound of someone shouting.

Link turned and to his astonishment saw one of the Hover Boards from earlier that day falling swiftly to the ground. In its front was a long handle, most likely used to steer, and clinging to this handle was a teen boy.

His blue eyes were wide with fright, his red hair blowing in the wind as he came crashing to the earth. Despite himself the boy managed to get a slight handling over the board and steered away from Link, falling instead towards a small stack of straw.

The crash was partly muffled by the plant fiber and a moan of pain issued from its depths. Link stared blankly at the pile of straw and then remembered Captain Zorr informing him that the Hover Racers sometimes lost control of their boards. But why would only one be out so late? Link rushed to the boy, hurrying to make sure that he was all right.

As Link approached the boy's red hair poked out of the straw and his head quickly followed. He groaned and pulled himself out of the object that had successfully softened his crash and leaned against a nearby wall, panting as though he had run for miles. He sighed and held his forehead. "I'm alive..."

"Are you all right?" Link asked him. The boy jumped, noticing the non citizen for the first time. "That was quite a fall, huh?"

"Y-yeah..." the boy answered, walking back to the pile of straw to pull his overturned hover board back out. Link aided him, feeling awkward just standing there. The attached handle appeared to look as though it would be able to steer the board in different directions if tilted the proper way.

Although the board looked worn out it still maintained its glamor with its silver platform that gleamed in the moonlight. It was big enough for two people and on its underside was a mechanism of some kind: openings with what looked like fans inside them were located there. Link guessed that this is what allowed the board to levitate and soar through the air. As he helped the boy place it on the ground he noticed the emblem on its platform: it was the same one that was on the Hyrulean banner.

"I thought that no one believed that place existed," he said, straightening up.

"What?" The boy looked up from examining the Board to ensure that it wasn't broken, and followed Link's gaze to the Hyrulean insignia on the platform. "Oh, that? Well, where I'm from it's as real as we are." He then looked up to Link, studying him. "You're...not from around here, are you?" It was then Link noticed how much his dirtied and tired outfit stood out from among the other new and clean clothing worn in this new country.

He shook his head, getting the uncomfortable feeling he had from earlier that day.

"I thought as much...but, you're a Hylian. And you even walk around with your ears in the open." The teen's voice was slowly filling with shock.

"What's wrong with walking around with my ears in the open?" Link asked defensively, frowning. The boy was around two heads shorter than Link, and the frown that he got from the foreigner looked more like a death glare.

"A lot of trouble might have happened!" The boy finally managed to find his voice. "You...could be taken to the Thrall Cell!" He was now glaring back at Link but with disapproval. "Someone could have turned you in, or worse...!"

"Thrall Cell again..." Link muttered under his breath. The boy suddenly turned pale and rigid, then glanced around them warily. "What?"

"That sound..." The boy's blue eyes were wide in fright. He recovered his composure quickly and turned to Link declaring, "We have to get out of here!"

"What for?" Link could not find what the trouble was for. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of the wind—all else was silent in the wide metropolis.

"Y-you don't know?" the boy asked, his guard breaking. He then shook his head. "I'd believe you if you didn't..." His stance and tone of voice mentioned that he was angry. "Hylians...aren't exactly welcomed with open arms into places like this," he started, his expression falling to grimness. "We're captured at night when we least expect it and taken to that dreaded _prison_." He spat out the word with contempt, balling his hands into fists. He whipped around again, searching the dark and empty roads around them.

Link had heard it too: the faint clink of armor and hurried footsteps from invisible feet.

The boy twirled on his feet quickly and hopped onto the Hover Board. He gripped the handle tightly and tested it, making sure that it was still able to be used after its sudden landing. The clinking armor was growing closer and voices could be heard murmuring to each other. Orange light from an unknown source began to shine from the other end of the road.

The redhead pressed his thumb to a small button on the handle. A whir and a crunching sound were heard and the Board began to tremble. The boy cursed and pressed the button again. He glanced in the direction of the voices then redirected his attention to the Board, visibly impatient. "Come on, come on..."

Link stood stock-still, keeping an eye on the road from where the soldiers were approaching. He assumed the conclusion that the only way the boy could have heard the sounds of the unknown soldiers from such a far distance was if he too were Hylian. Sure enough, when Link glanced over to him he could see the tips of the redhead's pointy ears poking out slightly from behind his green headband.

"Oy!" Link's head snapped to the voice. Standing at the other end of the road was a soldier: in one hand he held a torch and on his belt was a sword. "I got some! C'mere, guys...looks like the Thrall Cell will be gettin' some new members, eh?" More footsteps scuffled from around the corner and three more soldiers appeared behind the first one. "Come quietly and you won't get hurt." The man then glanced away from Link, catching sight of the Hover Racer behind him. "Oy! We got ourselves one o' those Racers!" he cried. "And it looks like he's tryin' ta get away! Get 'em!"

Link reached behind him for the handle of his sword and felt frustration rise within him as he felt nothing but thin air. The Shadow that had attacked him in the forest had snapped it in two and he had taken no time to buy a new one.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

The soldiers were closing in on the two Hylians and that was when the Board decided to work; a low hum issued from underneath it and a faint blue light shone from the propellers on its underside. The boy shouted his success and called for Link to climb aboard.

Without hesitation Link gripped the boy's arm and hopped on behind him, holding his breath as they began to rise into the air. Below them the soldiers reached the spot that the two were once standing in, shouting up curses and threats as loud as they could. The boy let the board rise high enough for the soldiers to look like specks in the city and the air steadily grew cooler. From above, Link could see how wide the city of Peluma actually was.

He barely had the time to take it all in when the boy called over his shoulder, "Hold on!" He pressed the button on the handle once more and the Hover Board blasted forward with immense speed. Tears blew out of Link's eyes and a few times the heavy wind nearly blew the hood right off his head. Everything was whizzing by in colorful blurs and the city of Peluma was left in their dust.

The moon lit up the sky and their way as the two continued on their flight. After a few minutes the boy slowed down a little and Link could see the land below them: green pastures and fields were spread out beneath them and close by houses stood, light shining from their insides. Seeing the farms Link remembered the goats from Ordon, and could only hope that Fado wasn't letting them escape one after the other.

"I'm Aaron," the boy called over his shoulder, hoping Link could hear him over all the wind howling in their ears. "Those soldiers that we just ran into...were the ones who steal Hylians away in the night."

Rather than giving an alias to Aaron like he had done to Elsie, Link gave him his true name. In the city of Peluma, he felt as though there were many he couldn't easily trust—giving an alias had been his best bet. But the Hylian before him seemed more trustworthy. "Why do they capture Hylians?" he inquired. He would ask more about the Thrall Cell next.

Aaron tensed and grit his teeth together. "They hold a grudge against us Hylians," he started, maintaining control of his anger. "All I know is that it's something that happened hundreds of years ago and they still haven't let it go."

_A grudge..._

Before Link could inquire about the Thrall Cell, Aaron had tilted the steering handle forward, and the Board zipped for the ground. The dirt that had once seemed so far away grew closer with each passing second and right when Link thought they were going to crash, Aaron pulled back on the handle. The Board pulled up slightly, flying level to the soil beneath them.

The two stopped in an open space. Dirt swirled in the air as the Hover Board came closer to the ground, and once close enough Aaron tapped the button twice and the Board fell to the ground with a soft moan. The two disembarked the flying vehicle and as Link's feet touched solid ground he suddenly felt the need to fall over. He was half-expecting it; after all, zipping through the air for the first time was bound to have some sort of effect on his body.

Once getting a hold of himself, Link searched the new place that he was in. The path was made of mainly dirt, although a few patches of grass could be spotted here and there. The fields of Arkania were further off, their rolling hills and widespread valleys giving the small area a scenic view. There were a few houses located close by, all of them made of wood.

Aaron folded up the Board and tucked it under his arm. "This is Taranis," he said. "Here...you're safe." Although it was directed towards Link it sounded more as though the redhead were speaking to no one in particular. "If you're wondering what this place is, it's our hideout but it also serves as a home for some of us." Aaron turned and began to trek down the path.

"Our?" Link turned and followed behind Aaron.

"We're sort of like a Civil Rights Group for Hylians. We consist of Hylians and people who aren't," Aaron started to explain. "We have a few people hiding around Peluma and in other places and they keep an eye out for any new Hylians coming in. We help them out when others don't; and we try to direct them over here to avoid getting taken to the Thrall Cell. But..." Aaron's face darkened, "sometimes we're not completely successful." Aaron stepped up to the threshold of one of the houses and made to knock upon the door. His knuckles grazed against the wood lightly when it was suddenly opened to him and the newcomer.

It was a small, twelve-year old girl who had answered the door. She was non-Hylian and her dark hair was pulled into a braid that was hanging over her shoulder. A gleeful expression came to her face as she spotted that it was Aaron who had arrived. She seemed to take no notice of Link. "Aaron!" she squealed, leaping into his arms. "You're back!"

"Good to be back, Sunshine," Aaron greeted, hugging her back with his free arm. The girl smiled and let herself slip out of Aaron's hug. "I even brought someone back with me." He looked to Link out of the corner of his eye. The girl stared up at Link with wide, curious eyes. In greeting, Link managed an awkward wave. "His name's Link, right?" Link nodded to confirm. "And this is Sunshine—well we call her that but her real name's Aila."

"But you can call me Sunshine," Aila said sweetly, twirling her braid absentmindedly. "After all, everybody does."

"Well, Sunshine it is, then," Link agreed, smiling to the small girl. She in turn blushed and her finger caught a knot in her hair. "But she's young...didn't you say that you're a Civil Rights group?"

"You don't have to be older than fifteen to know what's right and wrong." The three by the door looked up to see who it was that had spoken. "We have people from Sunshine's age up to adults, even."

It was Ashei.

"A-Ashei?" Link could only stare in disbelief. She laughed lightly.

"No need to look so surprised, yeah?"

"Oh. You two know each other then?" Aaron looked between the two. "She joined up with us not too long ago."

"Sunshine, why don't you step aside and let the two guys in, yeah? No doubt it's pretty chilly out there." Aila nodded and shuffled out of the way, making room for Link and Aaron to enter.

Inside was much warmer than outdoors. Every so often a small draft would blow in but it could hardly change the warm room temperature. There was a set of stairs over on the left of the hallway they were in and the other side of the passageway led to an open room.

Link followed the three Hylian Rights members down to this room; it was large with enough room for a small crowd of people. Two other halls were attached to this room, leading down an aisle of doors. There were a few people, Hylians and non-Hylians, gathered in the wide living room, chatting to one another or casting uninterested looks over to the four who had just entered. There was comfortable seating, and the clinking of dishes came from behind a swinging door in the back.

Link thought for a second that here he wouldn't receive the same glares he got while in Peluma. To his discouragement a few of the Hylians did a double-take as Link stepped further into the room, looking shocked then turned away no longer looking carefree. A few of them excused themselves hurriedly and left the room. His discomfort was noticed by Aaron.

"They're Corvenians," he said, shrugging. "A lot of them came in around a month ago, escaping a massacre. They're bound to be a bit rude sometimes."

"Massacre?"Link looked over the ones who had looked at him with disdain. "So...the rest of them were..."

"The Isle Massacre," Ashei said, folding her arms. "Hardly any of them were able to describe who was responsible. Yeah, they saw who it was," she said to Link's inquiring look, "but at that point they were so full of rage and despair that they couldn't think straight. What we managed to get was that whoever had done it was a green-clad Hylian and he had some sort of army of "shadows" with him." She then furrowed her brow. "Come to think of it, you kind of..."

"Oh!" Aila cut Ashei off short and turned to face Link. "Link, all new Hylians have to go and speak with our leader, Brent! Sometimes the new people come and join our little Resistance group and others help around the base so...you should at least introduce yourself to him!" She smiled—Link could see why she had been nicknamed "Sunshine".

"She's got a point," Aaron put in. "I'll show you where he is."

Before Link could inquire Ashei what she was thinking, he was ushered back down the hall by Aila and Aaron. The two led him up a short flight of stairs and across another wide room. A carpet embroidered with a curly design along its edges was spread across the floor, covering up most of the dusty floor. There were two hallways at the other end of the room and in between them was a lone door.

Aaron took the liberty of knocking upon this door and silence followed, until it was broken by a voice from beyond the door: "Come in."

"Brent's a good guy," Aila assured Link unnecessarily. "And a good leader." A dreamy look entered her eyes. Link edged by her and stepped towards the door. He twisted the knob, it obeyed and the door opened silently. The door shut behind him of its own accord.

In the center of the room was a large, circular table. No chairs were around it and on its surface was a map of what Link guessed to be Arkania and the countries around it. Every geographical feature was drawn and labeled with great care and from where he stood Link could see a few empty spaces on the map that were circled. Writing was scrawled next to the circles but it was difficult to tell what it was that was written.

Standing over this map was another Hylian, standing at nearly six feet tall. His shaggy blue hair hung over his face as he studied the map in front of him and he was tracing a few paths along the map with his finger.

Along one of the walls were a variety of weapons: swords, lances, knives, rods and a mix of other items used for fighting. Crates full of maps and other rolled up parchment were set in another corner of the room, filled so much that a few of the papers were either hanging outside the crate or laying on the floor beside it. Behind the Hylian that was studying the map was a small torch that barely had enough light to illuminate the entire room.

Link cleared his throat and the Hylian rolled up the map and tucked it into his belt.

As soon as they made eye contact, Link was put on edge. He tensed and his eyes narrowed; across from him the blue-haired Hylian was glaring at him through narrowed eyes as well. He had never seen this Hylian before but already tension was rising between them. A heavy silence settled in the room but was broken by the Resistance's leader.

"Mind introducing yourself?"

"Link."

"You have guts showing up here, huh, Link?" Amusement and annoyance flicked through Brent's light brown eyes. "Who knew a murderer would show up right at our doorstep."

"Murderer?" He had never taken away anyone's life before. How could he be so easily accused of committing murder? And of whom? When he asked, Brent's anger flared briefly before he quickly controlled himself.

"Don't try to act innocent," he said through gritted teeth. "I have enough witnesses here to say that you _are _a murderer. And let me just say that the results of your actions haven't been friendly on our part. You're a Hylian for Din's sake, why would you do something so..." He shook his head in exasperation.

"What murder?" Link tried again. "I don't know what you're talking about. And if you're talking about witnesses...are you talking about the people downstairs who were eying me like I had two heads?"

"Those people who were eying you like you had '_two heads_'," Brent started, "are those you fortunately didn't kill in your little massacre."

Ashei's words from earlier hit Link with full force: _a green clad Hylian..._

But it could have easily been someone else. Before he could say this, Brent was already approaching him, rod in hand.

"Centuries ago, in this country of Arkania, Hylians were already treated as selfish monsters," he said grimly. "We were accused of letting all non-Hylians perish in the drowning waters that the gods used to try and save the world from some dark magician." Brent was now standing on the other side of the table, scowling with anger. "History tells us that the gods chose a select few people to seek refuge on the mountaintops during the flooding and most of these people were Hylian. The Arkanians were furious that our ancestors didn't try to help them. Thousands of those Arkanians were buried underwater and those that survived hated Hylians with every bit of their being.

"We were viewed as savages that only cared for ourselves." Brent pointed his Bo staff at Link; it easily covered the distance between them, barely scraping Link's forehead. "Ever since that Isle Massacre, not only Corvenians were killed but a few non-Hylians as well. Now we're disregarded even more," his temper and voice was rising, "we're left out on the streets to die, and we're stolen away from our families and sold into slavery."

His voice lowered into a menacing and hateful tone, "And it's all your fault." The leader's last few words hung in the air. The only thing that could be heard was Brent's heavy breathing.

The accusation weighed down on Link like a great boulder. He felt a twinge of despair for all of the Hylians that were out dying on the streets or forced to do labor for unmerciful masters.

But he hadn't done it. It wasn't his fault.

"Why are you here?" Brent inquired, pulling the rod back a little. "Did you feel guilty and wish to atone for your crimes? Or did you come back to cause more pain for all of us?" There was no note of sarcasm in his voice. Link returned his grim expression.

"I come from Hyrule," he started. A spark of interest lit in Brent's eyes. "The Princess there ordered for me to come here to retrieve four missing Hyruleans. One of them is here, but the other three..." If he got out of this situation, he would have to ask Ashei for information on Telma, Shad and Auru's whereabouts. "I can't remember traveling outside of Hyrule ever in my life," he continued, "and I've only heard of the Isle Massacre today." Brent's guard was lowering. Finally, he pulled his rod back and searched Link's face for any signs of trickery. He could find none, but how could he trust him?

The Isle Massacre had occurred nearly a month ago. It was only around a week later did a small group of Corvenians arrive near their small community known as Taranis. The Corvenians were haggard and weak, smelly and tired - angry, confused, furious. They ate all they could and they stayed far from company. Only a few warmed up to Brent and offered to tell him what had happened.

It had seemed like any other day, they had told him. Then as if out of nowhere, from the land bridge that connected the Isles to the mainlands, a green-clad Hylian appeared. A sword and shield were equipped on his back and his blue eyes were calm but malicious. He had been followed by an army of dark beings that were stronger than they appeared, and the Corva Isles were in flames only hours later.

Bodies laying in blood were scattered in the streets, homes were caved in, children were screaming and crying and even animals and pets were given a swift and merciless end. Only a few of the adults and their children managed to escape, but due to unfortunate events including being tracked by a few Shadows, the adults gave their lives to protect the remaining children.

The last of the Corvenians stayed close together, trusting no one but one another. They had lost everything: homes, food, clothes, friends and family. They vowed to keep one another safe, and they vowed that one day the green-clad Hylian that had killed their loved ones would pay dearly. Even Brent had agreed to this.

And now, here the accused stood.

Here the accused stood, claiming that he hailed from the fantasy-land of Hyrule, the land that proved as an imaginary refuge for all Hylians. Brent wasn't sure if it was real, he wasn't sure if this Link was lying. He wanted to keep his promise to the Corvenians below them. To take away Link's life the same way he had taken away all of the other Corvenians' lives. But he wouldn't stoop so low as to no mercy.

No...he would take his chances.

He lowered his weapon. "I can't say I believe you," he began, his eyes hard. "But I'll trust you enough to give you a chance." He placed his rod on the table and folded his arms. "If you help us out with something important, then I'll release you from your accusations. I'll talk to the Corvenians we have here as well so they don't try anything...unpleasant."

Link's shoulders relaxed. "What is it?"

"We're going to raid the Thrall Cell."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"How did you even find out where it was?" Link asked Ashei as they headed back to the main building of Taranis.

"It turned out that the people who escorted us to Arkania weren't actually sailors, yeah?" Ashei replied, walking at a brisk pace. "They turned out to be soldiers from the Thrall Cell—I'm guessing that if we hadn't shown up at the harbor they probably would have gone rushing through the desert to try to steal some Hylians from Hyrule. That wouldn't have been too good."

Link didn't respond so Ashei went on: "We were all taken there, Telma, Shad, Auru and I; to that horrible Thrall Cell. It's a right musty, dank and dark place, yeah? They kept Telma and them but sent me back threatening me so that I would keep my mouth shut about the Thrall Cell's location." Ashei chuckled as she opened the door to the main house. "Unfortunately for them I can be a pretty big blabbermouth, yeah? I memorized the location before I was taken out of there and when I met up with a few people from this group I told them what I knew. They took me here, we shared our information with everyone else and we've been planning to steal those Hylians back ever since."

"How long ago was this?" Their feet pounded on the stairs as they trekked to the upper floor of the main house.

"I met them only three days after I was released, so around two and a half weeks ago, in this city called Barrae. It's west of here." She opened the lone door at the other end of the room and pushed it open.

It was crowded—Hylians and non-Hylians, young adults and adults alike filled the room, speaking in low voices to one another. Clearly the meeting had not yet started. Brent was easily spotted at the head of the table—he stood taller than most and his shocking blue hair was difficult to miss. He was smiling to many of the people that greeted him; it was almost like looking at a different person.

Brent suddenly glanced up and spotted Link at the door and his expression fell to grimness again. He nodded and called for everyone's attention. All those in the room gathered to the table which fortunately had enough room for all of them.

"We've been planning this for a while, guys," Brent started casually, leaning on the table. "Weeks of planning and investigating, and we finally have all of the information that we need. Aaron came back only an hour ago, so I'll let him tell you all what he found out with his small team of spies." Brent nodded for Aaron to start.

Aaron, pink in the face for having so much attention, cleared his throat and started his report, "Unfortunately the Thrall Cell has a bit more security than when we first spied on it," he started, "namely because one of us was spotted hiding in a tree by one of the soldiers from his post. In the week between that time and now, more soldiers have been called in from the capital to keep guard of the prison."

Aaron reached into a pouch hanging from his belt and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He spread it out on the table and smoothed out its creases. All heads leaned forward to see what was on the sheet of paper. To their astonishment, it was a map of the Thrall Cell.

"From above the fort, one of our spies managed to sketch out a map of the place," Aaron explained. "There are four towers: here, here, here, and here." Aaron pointed to the tops of the towers that were located in each corner of the large fort. "Along with that, there are a few hidden surveillance areas here"—Aaron pointed to a spot to the southeast of the Cell that had been circled hastily in a mass of trees—"here"—he pointed to another circle that was located off to the west of the large Thrall Cell located near what appeared to be a body of water—"and here"—he pointed to a spot to the north of the building. "They're hidden carefully, so getting by them could be a bit of trouble. Even if we know where they are it's easy to lose track. Everything looks alike..."

"But you got by them, didn't you Aaron?" a non-Hylian girl piped up. "Otherwise how would you have been able to spy on them?" Her voice was filled with mock praise.

"Barely," Aaron replied coolly. "So we instead came through to spy over here." He gestured to a spot on the eastern side of the building. There were no guard towers, and the two inner towers were up at the Thrall Cell's corners. "A blind spot."

"And a pretty big one if you ask me," said the girl.

"Well nobody asked you," a boy shot back. The girl blushed furiously and blew out air through her cheeks.

"Hey, shut up and let him finish," Brent demanded, eying the girl and boy in irritation. The two held silent and waited for Aaron to continue.

"So we made our way through there and we found that if you go along this way, hugging the wall as you go, there's no way that you can be spotted," Aaron went on proudly. "There are entrances here and here," he pointed to what looked like a door with an arrow pointing to where it was on the building's wall. "The one up north is clearly not an option—it's right within view of that hidden surveillance. And the one to the south is right underneath the noses of the inner guard towers."

"That could prove to be a problem," Brent muttered. Aaron nodded his agreement.

"Also, guards patrol the gate entrances," he continued, rolling up the map. "And somewhere near the hidden surveillance towers guards patrol the area as well. They're definitely sneaky; we nearly were caught by them.

"That about wraps up what we found out on the outside with my group," he concluded. "As for the inside, we can only guess that guards patrol around there as well. It's almost set up like a fortress so the prisoners are most likely on the third and second floor, the first floor being for immense security."

"Well, that helps us out a lot," Brent said, straightening up. "Now we have a good idea of what we're up against. Highly trained soldiers, no doubt?"

"Probably," Aaron answered, "but not trained so much as they can kill you in one blow, no. I think we can take 'em." Prideful smiles and a few modest grins were exchanged between the other Resistance members.

"I can tell you what I know about the inside, yeah?" Ashei offered suddenly, looking between Aaron and Brent for their approval. Brent nodded and all attention was focused onto Ashei. "Well, in fact there's four floors," she started. "Not counting the roof, which I have to point out have some guards wandering above there as well, I'm guessing. But on the first floor when I went were a lot of guards." She paused as she searched her memory for anything significant. "They glance about them a lot; always alert, they were. Up on the second floor are more security guards, but not as much on the alert, mainly because most of the safety security will be on the shoulders of the guards downstairs should the ones outside fail, yeah? The second floor, in its center, has a large cafeteria for the Hylian prisoners. Guards are stationed at all entrances of the cafeteria.

"The third floor is where the main group of soldiers are," she went on seriously. "From what they looked like, they were formidable opponents, always kept their eyes focused and a hand was always on their weapon. Let's see...there was an important looking soldier up there, too, he went into this room up there when I was being escorted out. I didn't get a chance to see him clearly but he had on a lot of armor and when he passed the guards by his door...well, they seemed to know their place, yeah? He's obviously a man of respect...if that person was a man."

"You're saying the owner of the Thrall Cell could be a woman?" an older Hylian man inquired roughly.

"It's a possibility," Ashei responded evenly. "Men don't run everything." The man's arm twitched and his eyes narrowed. Ashei went back to the subject of the meeting: "And on the fourth floor is where the prison cells are. It was horrible to look at. I won't describe it to you all—I don't think it would make this situation any less worse. But there were a lot of people imprisoned...I think I even saw a few non-Hylians in there."

"Oh, that's possible." All eyes turned to a young boy at the end of the table adjacent to Brent. "After all, some non-Hylians who don't work here are nice to us. But if they get caught they end up in that Cell."

Ashei nodded. "In any case, bringing the prisoners down from that many floors could prove difficult. In the end, this may not become a silent raid after all..."

"What if we made some sort of extra exit?" suggested another member. She twirled a lock of hair in a bored manner. "I mean...maybe when we have all of the Hylians secured upstairs, we could blast a wall open: then we could have some of our spell casters catch everyone as they jump out and make our escape."

"If we did something like that, wouldn't we need some sort of diversion?" Another Hylian adult had spoken, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "If we were to blow up half a wall, we would need powerful explosives for one thing. And somehow the guards would need to be somewhere far away enough that they couldn't get to us in time." The young girl who had suggested the idea nodded thoughtfully.

"Either way getting out would be difficult," Brent added, scratching his head and frowning at the table. "Gingy's idea would be less of a hassle, but then there's the hidden guards and those sneaky ones outside..." He shut his eyes in deep thought, and as soon as he did this all eyes looked upon him with wonder and admiration.

There had been a reason that Brent was the leader of this Resistance group instead of an adult. He was capable of thinking of different tactics and strategies that had a high chance of success—and they always ended in their victory. Everyone waited with bated breath for Brent's idea. He finally opened his eyes and instantly everyone froze, waiting silently for his plan.

"We'd have to start at twilight for this to work," he started. "Everyone should wear dark clothes—by the time it's over it'll be nightfall and everyone will manage to escape." He straightened up, a smirk playing across his face. "We'll have to catch a few of those guards wandering the grounds first. And steal there outfits. Those who will disguise themselves as a guard will split into three groups—one will head for the northern entrance and the other to the southern one. Mind you, we'll need to work fast. If a soldier asks you anything, tell him you're shift's up and you're switching.

"As for the third group: your job will be to get up onto the roof and seal the exits from the inside. You'll have to make it so that the soldiers patrolling the roof won't be able to come down. Once you're done with that busy yourselves with setting the Hylians free, since you'll be on the fourth floor. To avoid any confusion we'll split into those groups now..." Brent scanned the room, calling out names one after the other and telling them which group they'll be in.

But Link's name was not called.

"All right, those of you who aren't in groups will handle the "sneaky" guards outside and secure them somehow. Just don't kill them," Brent continued. "We don't need anymore unnecessary murders. Now, group one—you'll have to sneak by the guards on the first floor, and once on the second do the same. If you're stopped, just say that you were summoned by the one in charge. If they don't let you by then...well you'll have to improvise and make your way to that head knight no matter what. If he's as formidable looking as he looks, and his guards are too, we definitely want them to stay put. Group two will have to guard the entrances to the third floor, just in case a guard senses something suspicious.

"Meanwhile, upstairs, group three will carry out Gingy's plan." Gasps echoed across the room along with low muttering.

"But, Brent," an adult non-Hylian said, almost pleadingly, "if we use that little kid's plan, we'd attract the attention of the hidden surveillance guards."

"Possibly, but we have sorcerers for that," Brent answered simply, letting his gaze slide across a select few Resistance members. "Are any of you capable of sealing someone? Even if only for a short time?" All of them nodded eagerly. "Good—when you hear the explosion from the wall, I want you to all seal the guards in the hidden surveillance towers for ah...give us ten minutes if you can. We'll take the Hylian captives through that forest surrounding the Cell and to our Boards to fly them out. Magic-wielders when you see the last of us depart, follow our lead, and group two, when you hear the explosion, get out of the Cell too."

There were murmurs of approval and excitement. Before Brent could make to dismiss them, one girl raised her hand politely. Dark bangs hung around her tanned face and the rest of her hair was pulled up above her head. Her brown eyes gave off a glow of hesitation, nevertheless she waited for attention. Brent looked to her, raising his eyebrows.

"I know we've been planning this for a while," the girl started, lowering her hand. The room had fallen silent as her voice came to their ears. "You're all eager, I can tell. But before we try something like this...I think we should try talking to..." She winced and finished in a faint voice, "...the Governess..."

The room burst into uproar. People were shouting their disapproval and shaking their heads. Some were glaring at the girl and others looking at her, acknowledging her boldness to suggest something so uncanny.

Brent quieted everyone and turned back to face the girl. "What would make you want to do something like that?" His tone was calm and curious, but the girl, being as observant as she was, could easily tell that he too was leaning towards declining her request.

"Think about it," she started, keeping a straight posture. "We raid the Thrall Cell. We take every single Hylian that was originally going to be sold into slavery and escape. Then what? For all we know we might end up going to the Thrall Cell ourselves, along with all of the recently freed captives. I don't think that the soldiers who we would have raided would stop at anything to get us behind bars as well.

"On the other hand, if we manage to negotiate with the Governess, she might release all of them and then we won't have to raid at all."

"And put such a brilliant idea to waste?" cried out one of the young members, throwing his arms in the air. "Stupid! What should happen if we fail with the negotiations, O Merciful One?" The girl cut her eyes briefly at the boy, leaving him cringing as though he had been stabbed in the side.

"Should we fail, we'll just continue with the raid," she said. "We won't make any mention of it to the Governess during the negotiation, no. That would only make her send more guards to the Cell most likely. The raid will be our alternative. As for if the soldiers come with revenge...I think that the Governess will be the merciful one if she figures out our motives and who was behind it. She might spare us, knowing her heart. But...it's a gamble."

"You sound like you know her well," noted one of the members. The girl didn't reply and instead she waited silently for Brent's consent or refusal. To her surprise, he agreed.

"Well, it seems reasonable to me," he said. "You'll be in charge of the negotiation, Renée. And..." He nearly held in his next few words, but forced them out, "I'll go with you as well."

Renée's face fell. "Y-you...you _what_?"

"I said I'll go with you," Brent repeated. "As the leader of this group, I should come along as well." He glanced to Link out of the corner of his eye. "How about the newcomer comes along?" Link blinked and looked up to see all eyes on him. A few were scornful looks, others were that of wonder. "Or would you rather wait here with everyone else?"

Link remembered their discussion from earlier on. He wasn't sure if Brent had already spoken with the Corvenians, but he didn't want to take any chances. He nodded stiffly.

"Well, that settles everything," Brent said. "You can all leave now, you know what's up: negotiation is a success, we get the Hylians out, but if it isn't then we attack. Gamble or not, it seems fair enough, right?"

People muttered their agreements and began to leave the room. Once it was less crowded, Brent approached Link, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"I didn't mention this earlier so that the Corvenians in the group wouldn't try to plan your demise," he started, "but I'll be in the first group, and you'll be in it as well."

"My demise?" Link raised an eyebrow.

"I tried talking to them," Brent said in his defense, "but they're really convinced that you're that murderer." Link groaned—just what he needed were unnecessary enemies. "Fortunately they're hard workers—unless they have somethin' else on their mind they won't try to kill you while the raid happens...if it happens." The two exited the room and were greeted with the warm smell of freshly cooked meat and other delicious fillings. Brent headed down the stairs towards the dining hall, Link following behind him.

At the bottom of the steps, Link met up with Ashei. "Oh, there you are! I've been lookin' for you, yeah? Brent told me about those Corvenians, so I suggest that you come with me to an inn I've been staying at. Don't worry, it's open to both Hylians and ones who aren't," she added hurriedly, "and I think it'd be better if you stayed there rather than here. At least, until the Corvenians here start to trust you."

Link grunted in agreement. It was bothersome on his part, that now Hylians were after his life, along with the famous monsters of Hyrule. If he got his hands on that impostor...

He followed Ashei out of the main building and out into the cold night air. The air was crisp and Link could nearly see his breath exit his mouth. Ashei glanced back at him. "Nights are chilly here, yeah? And then in the day it can get nice and warm. Such is life by the sea."

She led Link out of Taranis, into the wide and open fields of Arkania. There was not much conversation between the two, as they were absorbed in their own thoughts. For a while, the only thing that could be heard were the sounds of his and Ashei's heavily booted feet pounding through the fields.

Link's memory looked fleetingly back at Hyrule and he remembered Princess Zelda's charge. He looked up to inquire why Ashei and the group had left, and to his surprise, found that they had already arrived at the inn that Ashei had mentioned.

It was around the same size as the main building of Taranis, with smoke puffing from its chimney and a warm light glowing in its windows. A sign hung above the door reading "Aimer's Inn". Ashei opened the door, setting off a small bell to signify their arrival.

The warmth of the inn graced upon Link—even in his layered outfit he had been cold outside. He presumed that it was most likely because he was so used to the warmth of Hyrule that the cold air seemed amazingly different. A fire crackled in the hearth on the left side of the room and shuffling of footsteps was heard somewhere behind the door located near the counter.

The floor was glossy and smooth, reflecting the light of the fire and the light of the bright lanterns that were lit around the room. Chairs and tables were in this room, placed in a neat order and in a connecting room to the right was more furniture. From the doorway behind the counter came the innkeeper, adjusting her apron as she entered.

Link recognized the girl that appeared behind the counter as Renée. She smoothed down her apron hurriedly, and rested a hand on a book on the counter. "Ashei!" she greeted, a smile appearing on her face. "So you're going to stay here again tonight?"

"Yeah, I thought why not?" Ashei answered, smiling. "This here's Link, the newcomer." She elbowed Link in a friendly way and he smiled in greeting. Renée picked up a pencil by the book that she was resting against. "So, Link are you going to be staying the night as well?"

"Yes." He was not only hungry for a nice, hot meal but also for a warm bed to sleep in. He was sure that it would be much more comfortable than the cabins that were on the _Maysee._

"Good, I'll get to know you before we set off for that negotiation," Renée said merrily, writing his name into the book. "All right, so your room will be up the stairs and the third door on your right. It's got a nice view of the fields, Peluma and the sea beyond so consider yourself lucky!" She placed the pencil on the page she was writing in and shut the book.

"Do you need any help with dinner again tonight?" Ashei asked politely, taking off the small jacket that she had been wearing.

"No, not really," Renée answered, heading back behind the door. Her voice carried out from the depths of the room that she entered, "To be honest only you guys are here tonight; the people who were staying before have long since left. That's why I was able to make it to the meeting." The clattering of pots and other dishes was heard, presumably from the kitchen. "I'll be done in a second!"

* * *

"...And for you," Renée said, placing a plate of food in front of Link. It was steaming hot, and the smell of different seasonings and sauces filled his nostrils. It was a most delicious scent.

Link paid no attention to how fast he ate. He hadn't had a decent meal in some time, and he had to admit, the cooking wasn't bad at all. "...gonna choke!" Link swallowed a large amount of fish as Ashei said this, and as she predicted, he choked. Ashei hastily handed him his glass of water and he chugged it down in two quick gulps, washing down the food caught in his throat. He gasped and panted, then wiped his mouth in embarrassment.

"You're worse than my dad was," Renée said, laughing. "I mean, he ate pretty fast but you? You're like an animal." She laughed at Link's expression. "There's no need to look so embarrassed about it. I mean, it's good to have a healthy appetite, right?"

She took a sip of her water and sighed. She too started on her meal, although appeared greatly distressed by something. Link noticed this, and couldn't help but inquire what was wrong. Renée shook her head, stating that it was nothing too important. Nevertheless, she remained fairly silent during the mealtime, and so only the sounds of the forks and knives clinking noisily on the plates kept them company.

"Hey, Renée when are you planning to leave for this negotiation?" Ashei asked, breaking the horrendous silence.

Renée looked up from her half empty plate, looking dazed before replying to Ashei's question. "Oh...I meant to tell you that," she said, dropping her gaze and looking over to Link. "Um...I was planning to leave tomorrow, probably early in the morning. It's a three-day travel to get to the city the Governess lives in, so I thought as soon as possible would be good." She fidgeted in her seat and looked back to her plate. "But, I wasn't sure if Brent and Link would be all right with leaving on such sudden notice..."

"Well, Brent's usually ready for anything, yeah?" Ashei said, propping up Renée's confidence. "And Link here, if I know him he'll be up at dawn. Right Link?"

Link sat back in his chair, satisfied with the meal he had been given. "Yeah. I'll be ready to leave when you are."

Renée nodded, clearing the table of her dishes and stood up. "Then, I'm going to bed. We'll have to be up early after all." She picked up Link and Ashei's dishes and made her way for the kitchen. "Good night!"

"Good night," Link and Ashei called in unison. Dishes clinked and clattered, footsteps ascended the stairs and headed down the hall; a door clicked open and then shut.

"So she runs her own inn for Hylians and others, huh?" Link said, seemingly out of nowhere. "But wouldn't she end up in that Thrall Cell?"

"She knows the risk," Ashei said, leaning back comfortably in her chair. "But she does this anyway, yeah? She's close by the other Resistance members and so she's not completely out in the open. Fortunately she hasn't been caught at all."

"But why?"

"She says that her parents taught her that it doesn't matter what they look like, people of every shape, size and race, deserve hospitality," Ashei answered in a monotone voice. Silence descended in the room once more. It was broken by Ashei's sudden question: "Why are you so far from Hyrule, anyway?"

Link's eyes flashed to hers immediately. "I'm here because you're here," he said flatly, breaking eye contact. Ashei leaned forward in interest. "When you, Telma and the others suddenly took off, the Princess summoned me to come and get you." He didn't mean to sound annoyed, but his tone sounded it. He looked back to Ashei briefly with concern to cover it up. "Why did you guys leave anyway?" He didn't bother to mention how Princess Zelda had known where to follow the group to.

"Well, it was a bit because of Shad," Ashei started, her expression growing distant. "He studied up on this thing called the "Triforce" or something or rather, yeah? We ended up traveling across that blasted desert to ask the Sages about it and then they told us about one of the pieces of that Triforce thing being split into four: one's in a "City over the sea", another one is in the Goron mines, another one in an ancient forest, and the last one is located in the snowy mountain peaks, yeah?" She looked back up to Link. "The Sages said that we should try to get this Triforce shard out of sight of non-Hyruleans." She shrugged. "Telma agreed to it automatically, as did the others. Apparently this little shard of Power is capable of causing a lot of problems...so we decided to help by going to get this shard that was outside of Hyrule and bringing it back."

"What were you planning to do with it when you got back?" Link asked.

"Give it to the Sages," Ashei said frankly, her face impassive. "Then maybe go to get the other shards and give those to them too. They'd know what to do with it. But why would the Princess send you to get us?" Ashei's face was lined with wonder.

"She didn't want you all to get mixed up with something you didn't know much about, apparently," Link said. "Don't look at me like that—I have no idea what she was hiding." Ashei had been looking him over in disbelief. Her expression then changed to shock.

"She was hiding something?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"I don't know, I think so," Link said, standing up and stretching. "It was like I could sense it—almost like a sixth sense. It was actually sort of weird." He looked away from Ashei, recalling the fact that not only he, but Zelda too owned a piece of the Triforce. Perhaps that had something to do with it? "I'm going to bed." Link turned to leave the room and head upstairs to his new room. Ashei didn't rise to stop him, but instead watched him exit the room and head up the stairs. After hearing the door of his room shut, she snuffed out a few lanterns and headed up to her room as well.

Link tossed his floppy green hood onto a chair in the room and placed his shield on it as well. He tore his tunic off and kicked off his boots; once comfortable enough to rest he flopped upon the bed—the soft, welcoming and warm bed. His eyes closed in some much needed sleep.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Gray clouds clung to the early morning sky, shielding Arkania from any glimpses of sunlight. The grass of the fields bent slightly to the weak wind as it pushed over them, looking like uneven green waves rolling over the hilly landscape. To the east, the ocean beat relentlessly at the shorelines, almost irritated that a storm was drawing near.

In towns and villages that were settled beneath the overcast sky—with its small winds and chilly, oceanic air—movement was slow and reluctant; almost absent as only a minority of people exited their homes to hurry with chores and shopping.

But in Taranis, the people were awakening far quicker than the average Arkanian settlement at such an early time. Although they too were slow with their movements and unwilling to wake to such a dreary morning, the Resistance members knew that their tasks had to be carried out.

Smoke drifted from the windows of the Main House as breakfast was prepared, and the scents of the delicious meal floated to the upper floors where the slowly waking inhabitants inhaled it. Floorboards creaked, yawns were exercised and slurred groans of greeting were issued as those who slept in the Main House made their way to the Dining Room. Those who did not wake up muttered under their breath and drooled over the images in their dreams that were filled with mouth-watering delicacies that looked like what was being cooked in the kitchen below.

The few that did not rest in the Main House did not stay at the crowded breakfast time—instead they gathered a plate of food on the go, ate quickly and departed before they could be drawn into conversation. Some were caught at the door and were forced to give a brief explanation on their sudden and wanted departure, while others slipped away without notice. It was a normal routine, of course, for some of the people had such a busy schedule that they did not have the time to sit and converse with their companions. Of the people who left as quickly as they had come, was the leader of the Resistance.

Brent gave no mention as to why he was in such a rush, though he noticed the curious glances and interested faces. When he was greeted he would smile and reply, then go on his way. If someone amongst the many small round tables in the Dining Room called him and inquired where he was headed, he would merely reply with one word: 'negotiate'. Realization would dawn upon the interrogator's face and they would turn back to their meal as if the short chat had never even occurred.

Brent took a less crowded way to go upstairs to retrieve things he believed necessary for his trip: he left the Dining Room through the back door and crossed the wide, wooden terrace to the door at the other end. His hand reached out to open it, and his fingertips brushed the bronze handle before someone on its opposite side opened it.

Brent gave the man a brief nod and sidled by him. The man blinked, alarmed at the quick sight of a head of scruffy blue hair then turned on his heel and grabbed Brent by the shoulder.

"Where're ya off to in such a hurry, aye?" he asked, frowning.

"Negotiate," Brent replied curtly, shrugging the man's hand off his shoulder. When the member crossed his arms and his frown deepened, Brent quickly explained his rush in a short sentence. He ignored the man's look of horror when Brent mentioned the Governess and walked away. At the foot of the nearby stairs he halted, his hand on the railing.

"Before I forget"—he turned to face the man—"Lemm: you're in charge while I'm gone." The spark that flashed in his dark eyes was the only way that could explain Lemm's interest in the thought of him being leader, if only temporarily. He nodded and headed out to the terrace, letting the door swing shut behind him. Brent took half a step forward, suddenly regretting his decision but shook the thought away, and went upstairs.

Here he entered a hallway lined with a few open doors that lead into unlit bedrooms, storerooms and studies. Once exiting the hall, Brent turned to his right and grabbed hold of the doorknob to the Conference Room. He entered this room and scanned it quickly: he spotted his rod leaning against the wall in a corner and moved to pick it up. With it in hand, he searched the room for anything else that he needed.

His eyes rested upon the overflowing crate of papers that had been pushed beneath the Conference table, and he pulled it out and searched for a map of Arkania. His fingers flicked through the stack of yellowed parchment, then he found it: the paper was unrolled and more wrinkled and folded in places that he had never noticed before. He pulled it out from under the pile of papers that it was beneath, tucked it away in his pocket, and then replaced the crate under the table.

Downstairs, Brent reached out to grasp the handle of the door that led outside. He was halfway out of the Main House when a small voice reached his ears. It was far away, and at first Brent thought to ignore its call. Instead he shut the door.

"Brent," Aila called again, her bare feet patting against the sanded wood floor. In her arms she carried a black bundle tied with thin rope—protruding from one end of the package was a hilt, and at the other end was the point of a scabbard. Tucked under one of her arms was a dark piece of cloth. Brent looked down to her, raising his brows for her to speak.

"Um...I noticed that when Link came, he had a shield," Aila said. She held up the wrapped bundle in her arms. "I went through the armory last night, and I picked out a sword for him. I...only hope it's okay..." Brent took the bundle with one hand and smiled.

"I'm sure he'll like it, Sunshine," he said, receiving a bright and energetic yellow grin. Brent opened the door again, only for Aila to halt him once more.

"You nearly forgot this!" she spluttered quickly, only wanting her words to reach him before he left. She took the folded piece of cloth out from under her arm. "I found it in your room this morning when I went to find out if you were gone yet," she explained. "Since you're going to see the Governess in such a city as Revale, I figured that you might need it to cover your ears." She rubbed her own round ones, wondering what it would be like for them to be pointy.

"Thanks." Brent tucked the traveling cloak under his arm. "Well, I'm off—ah, and Lemm's in charge; stay on his good side this time, all right?"

Aila nodded sheepishly, recalling the last time Lemm had been the Commander of the Resistance. She had been suspicious that Brent had made such a sharp-tongued man take his place, and had repeatedly irked Lemm in any way she found possible.

The last stunt she pulled on him was tampering with the gears on his Hover Board, which had nearly caused Lemm to come to a sudden death. Had it not been for Brent when he returned, Aila would have bruises from more than just falling off her Hover Board. She watched as Brent departed the Main House and did not turn to go back inside until he was nothing more than a small blue and green dot in the widespread Arkanian plains.

* * *

A satisfying click signaled that the belt was locked. Renée proceeded to attach her scabbard to her left side, on the belt that looped from the one that hung from her waist. She then picked up the small dagger lying on the table and tucked it into the holder wrapped around her thigh.

With a wide sweep of her arm she scooped up her brown traveling cloak that hung on the rack attached to the wall and held the ends around her neck, locking them together with a brooch in the shape of a horizontal teardrop. She patted the wallet on her right side, just to make sure that it was there, then stuffed her feet in to her boots. She took an awkward step to her left, towards her door, and half tripped, half flew out of the doorway. She landed in the hall and, glad that her dark bangs could cover her embarrassed expression, swiftly descended the staircase.

She looked around the wall that ran along the right-hand side of the staircase and, to her surprise and immediate relief, saw the granddaughter of the owner of the inn standing behind the counter: Miriam.

At first, Renée thought Miriam to still be sickly, since the night before she turned in early, in fact, just a few moments before Ashei and Link arrived at the Inn. However, now that she saw Miriam standing behind the sign-in desk, looking like her proud and stubborn self, Renée believed that she would no longer be needed to substitute.

Travelers had already begun to arrive and were seated at the round tables in the room, picking at their food or drinking tankards of ale. Their voices were low and murmuring as separate groups of people spoke to each other; one or two glanced up when Renée entered the room, then turned back to their conversation. Miriam looked up when Renée came in to her view. She raised her eyebrows, forming small wrinkles above her brow. "What fell?"

"I did."

Miriam nodded in understanding, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her thin lips. She suddenly hesitated and then beckoned Renée closer. Renée obeyed and gave her full attention to the older woman.

"You're friend was up a while ago," Miriam said in a low whisper, so low that Renée had to lean forward to hear her clearly. She respected Miriam's decision to keep the idea that a Hylian was staying at Aimer's Inn. Although the Inn was open for both humans and Hylians, occasionally Thrall Cell soldiers that were concealed would stay at the inn and keep an eye out for ears that were not round. "He decided to busy himself with preparing the wagon." Renée nodded and headed for the door hidden behind the fireplace.

She pushed it open, took a right down a narrow corridor and arrived in the hall behind the counter. She turned to pass through a wide, arched doorway and entered the kitchen, instantly spotting the sacks of provisions that she had made late the night before. She untied one and peeked inside, surprised that since she was half-asleep when she had stuffed the food inside, she had not created a mess in or outside the bag.

She briefly examined the sacks to recall what she had packed: there was bread, Arkanian prunes, salted meat and a variety of other foods. It was enough for them to make it to the city of Varron, Renée guessed, looking over the amount once more.

She shouldered two packs, carried the third in her right hand and exited Aimer's Inn through its back door. A heavy sigh coming from the side of the inn caught her attention. She made her way towards the sound and saw the wagon already prepared. Link was adjusting the reins on the horses and turned at the sound of Renée's scuffling feet.

"Morning," he greeted, returning to his work.

"Morning," Renée replied in turn, regarding the wagon for a moment. "You seem to have done this before."

"Well back home I worked at the ranch," Link answered, finishing his chore and patting one of the horses. "Sometimes I had to help my partner prepare to deliver goods to the castle."

"Castle?" Renée repeated, her voice full of evident curiosity. Although it was normal; she had never seen a castle before.

"Yeah. Hyrule Castle."

"_Hyrule?!_"

"Hey, you guys are all ready!" Link and Renée's heads turned to the source of the voice; coming up over the hill was Brent. "So does this mean we're all set?"

"...Yeah, I think," Renée answered slowly, quickly racking her brain for any other necessities that they may have forgotten. "Let's see, snacks here, money here..." The young Arkanian placed her packages in the wagon. "Since where we're going is far from the ocean, we won't exactly need blankets. But if we get cold our cloaks can do the trick. ...Ah, right."

Renée reached into the wagon, her upper half vanishing behind the thick covering. "No, not here..." Her voice drifted to the young mens' ears from the innards of the vehicle. She pulled herself out of the wagon and opened up a rear storage compartment. Neatly stacked inside were pots and pans, bowls and eating utensils, cooking spoons and a ladle.

"Yep, we're all set." She closed the compartment and re-locked it. She circled to the front of the wagon and climbed in to the seat, laying the horse reins in her lap.

Brent too placed his items in the wagon in order to put on his cloak. He then picked up the sword and held it out to Link, saying: "Sunshine wanted me to give this to you. She noticed that you had a shield, so she picked it out herself." Link took the sword and unwrapped it.

The handle was pitch-black and firm, providing easy grip. The end of the pommel was made of metal that had been welded into the shape of a sharp point and a thin-lined, intricate design was located on the weapon's guard. Link pulled the sword out of its plain, black scabbard and held it out in front of him; he silently weighed it and swung it a few times—a low hum issued from the blade with every swipe. Link placed the sword back in its sheath and nodded.

"I'll be sure to thank her when we get back," he said, taking off his shield to attach his new weapon.

Brent smiled broadly. "Told her you'd like it."

"All aboard!" Renée called from the front of the wagon. "Before I leave you." Brent and Link hopped in to the back of the wagon bed and settled into a comfortable position. Once they had, Renée flicked the reins and the horses began the beginning of their journey.

"We have enough provisions to last us until we reach Varron," Renée said to the passengers over her shoulder once Aimer's Inn was well out of view. "So we'll stop there. And with monsters lagging about, we'll probably be delayed a few times by them too..."

Brent pulled the map out of his pocket and unfolded it, furrowing his brow and calculating how much time their travel would take. "Varron's about a day and a half away," he started, tapping the location of the decent-sized village on the map. "After we leave Varron..." Link could see Brent's finger moving northward through the paper. "...Revale will be another day and a half from there. So it's a three-day trip to the Governess, without including the possibility of long delays." Brent refolded the map and tucked it back into his pocket.

"On your map," Link started, "there are circles in open spaces. Why?"

"Circles...?" It took Brent a few seconds before he realized what his comrade was speaking of. "Ah. Well, in Taranis, we're not the only group of the Resistance," he explained. "There's a bunch scattered all over Arkania, but in Arkania only."

"So there's only Hylian prejudice in Arkania?"

"Pretty much. No other country experienced the betrayal that Arkania did during that Great Flood." Link nodded in understanding, although his nod came out shaky and incomprehensible as the wagon rocked down the bumpy road.

"I see," he said.

"Then, in the ocean, we have a circle where we think that Hyrule is located," Brent continued. "And another one in the forests where the Thrall Cell is."

"You all know where Hyrule is?"

"Sort of. We learned the location from records from the Arkanians." Brent then quoted a brief line from one of the many historical logs that he had studied: " _'The Hylians have gone south-southeast, over the Great Sea.'_ So we circled the first few scattered islands that are south-southeast from Arkania. We would have gone to check using our Hover Boards, but we were worried that if we did our guess would have been wrong and the Hover Boards would have malfunctioned on the way back..."

"I heard they malfunction often."

Brent scratched the tip of his nose and stared out the back end of the wagon. "They're definitely not perfect," he said. "Now that I think about it we may have actually made a few mistakes when building them."

"Oh. How'd you build them?"

"Some of the Resistance members were looking at these records of ancient Hylian artifacts or something like that," Brent began. He then began a long telling of how the Hover Boards came to be.

Again, it all traced back to the historical lands of the Hyrule that was once unified with Arkania. Although the Hover Boards were not entirely similar, in the old Hyrule there had once been an item known as the Hover Boots that gave the wearer the ability to hover in midair for a short amount of time. However these Hover Boots were fueled by an unknown magic.

One of the members of the Resistance of Taranis had gotten the idea of the Hover Boards, and was aided by a few of the magicians who specialized in Wind magic. Inside each Hover Board was what Brent described to be a "Wind sphere thing" ("Windmite," Renée had corrected) that was the main fuel for the Hover Board.

On the Board's handle was a small button: when pressed this would turn the Windmite on. The Windmite would then begin to spin and emit blue winds that would flow out of the Board through the propellers on the underside of the vehicle. It took only a few more seconds for the exiting wind to grow stronger, and the force would be enough to blast the Hover Board in to the air. The propellers evened out the flow, allowing the Board to rise up vertically, rather than in a sudden, clumsy and large movement.

After the Board was as high as the rider wanted or needed it to be, the button would be tapped again and the Windmite would redirect its energy so that the wind would flow out of the propellers and blow in the opposite direction that the Hover Board was facing. The wind would blow out quick enough for the Hover Board to look like nothing more than a blur in the sky. The handle was, as Link had predicted, used for steering and when the rider wanted to land, the button would be tapped twice and the Windmite would began to release less and less energy until it completely died down.

No matter how sophisticated the Hover Board was, its main problem was the very object that granted its energy. Occasionally the Windmite would blow out too much air, thus causing the Hover Board to zip in unpredictable movements. That, or the Windmite would automatically go out and cause the Board to fall from, most likely, a threatening height. Fortunately the inventor of the Hover Boards and the magicians that had aided him were trying to figure out a way to solve that problem.

Renée then inquired Link of what the land of Hyrule was like. Link voluntarily told her of the land that was no more than a legend to all of Arkania. Luscious green fields, a wide mountain range that bordered the entire country and Hyrule's water source are what drew Renée right into the world of Link's verbal illustrations.

_It must be big,_ she thought as Link described the clear waters of Lake Hylia.

_So grand,_ she thought in awe as Link expressed the vast size and structure of the Hyrule Castle. Although he had not seen it in, now, a year and a quarter, he was sure that he had expressed the image truthfully. Renée laughed when Link said that he believed that the monsters' ugliness ruined Hyrule's overall beauty, but guessed that if she could see it, she would think the same thing.

She and Brent laughed at the stories that Link told them that took place in the quiet forest province of Ordona, and in exchange they told of their own adventures and humorous moments. Their journey was full of many jokes and laughs, as well as a few awkwardly silent moments that were easily broken by the group's high and cheery spirits.

As they trekked on, the day growing steadily warmer as they moved further north, they thought that they would be able to make it to Varron without any interruptions. However this prediction was proven wrong when a ragtag team of Bokoblins attacked their wagon during lunch.

Brent, Link and Renée were warned of the attack by the strange and irritated behavior of the horses, as well as the grunts and squeals from outside the wagon. Fortunately the three were able to beat the Bokoblins effortlessly (here Link finding his new sword easy to handle), and in the end one or two of the monsters escaped, having learned that they had picked the wrong people to bother. Link and company then decided to continue eating on the go to avoid any other possible ambushes.

Hours later, when the sun was spotted low in the west, the group turned off to the side of the road and found a place to rest for the night. A short time later a dark and thin trail of smoke rose in to the darkening sky from their campfire. Its light danced upon their faces and sparks leaped out of the depths of the fire at times.

The eating time was silent but for the sounds of crunching and the crackles of the flames. The horses were lying down in the soft grass beside the wagon and nibbled at the green blades. They then gazed ahead of them into the Varron woods; the only thing that told if they were living was the constant twitch of their ears.

Once finished with her food, Renée reached into a sack and pulled out a blue-leafed fruit dotted with red seeds. Link eyed it warily, at first mistaking it for a strawberry. Right before Renée took a large bite of the food, he asked: "What's that?"

"An Arkanian prune," Renée answered. She then picked at the blue leaves and dropped them in the grass beside her. "Dessert."

"You brought _those_?" Brent blurted out, swallowing the rest of his meal. "Lemme get some!"

"Say _please_," Renée retorted and gave a playful huff.

"_Please_?" Renée looked back to the blue-haired Hylian through narrowed eyes. Her expression fell to shock and, Link was unsure if it was a trick of the firelight or not, her cheeks grew pink. She hurriedly looked away from Brent's successful puppy-eyed look and sighed.

"How can I say 'no' to that?" She picked up the sack that carried the Arkanian fruit and passed it to Brent who laughed impishly and pulled out a prune of his own. He bit into it and noticed Link staring at the sack in his hands. Brent offered him the sack and Link quickly shook his head, directing his attention to the campfire.

Once the half-full moon was fully visible in the clear and starry sky, the three got ready to turn in for the night. Link volunteered to be the first night watch and with that decision made, Brent and Renée curled up on opposite sides of the diminishing fire; Link sat with his back against one of the horses' sides and, to keep himself awake, took out the slingshot from one of his pouches. He had been surprised that it was still in there, then remembered that when he had stored away the Hero's tunic he had left all of the items and weapons in its magical storage.

He plucked the string of his slingshot and listened dully to the vibrating noise the string made; he paid no attention to how long he repeated this motion. Later bored with this act he put away the slingshot and looked around the fields, his fingers laced behind his head.

The green of the grass appeared a pale, yellow-green color in the silver moonlight and stretched for miles ahead of his vision, almost like the sea. To his left hoots of owls and the sounds of other animals calling to one another from within the forest floated to his ears. Link picked up a short twig that lay in the ground beside him and with a flick of the wrist, tossed it into the fire.

_Snap._

Link watched as the remains of the twig were encased in flames and became a part of the ashes. He then looked away from the low fire, his mind already wondering what would happen during the upcoming negotiation.

Already he had a number of questions gathered in his mind, crowding his thoughts with their possible yet somehow unrealistic answers. Link's racing thoughts then settled upon one question: did the Governess know about the Triforce shards?

Link meditated on the inquiry for a long while. He had in fact nearly forgotten about the shattered relic himself. He then recalled Ashei informing him that the Sages had suggested removing the shards from the sight of non-Hyruleans. She of course had not known the details of why the Sages would propose the idea, and Link had not the slightest clue either.

But it was the Sages' suggestion—recklessly inquiring the Arkanian leader about the shards would most likely lead to a sudden and unwanted interest in the Triforce and its strength. Link did not feel the need nor urge to grasp the outcome of such a situation.

But what if the Governess did know?

Link brushed a bit of dirt into the fire absentmindedly with his foot. The fire hissed violently, then lowered into small flames that lashed with all their might at the smoldering wood. What would he do if the Governess happened to know what the Triforce shards were and where the one located in Arkania was? Request that she help him find it?

He shook this idea away forcefully. He had arrived in Arkania merely to retrieve the four that the Princess had asked him to retrieve—nothing more.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

The once clear sky was overcome with gray clouds the next morning and a thin, light rain began to fall. The group ate a small and satisfying breakfast, then set off down the road again. Conversation was soon sparked between the travelers as the wagon rumbled down the dirt path.

Renée began by speaking of a strange dream that she had had the night before: she was embarrassed to explain at first, but with coaxing from her curious comrades she told them. When she had finished describing her dream of a carrot-horned donkey, Brent and Link were wavering between laughter and wonder of what would give someone a dream such as Renée's.

"Maybe it was the prune," Link guessed, receiving a few chuckles from the other two.

Renée then attempted to change the subject and the group settled on the topic of monsters. Opinions and theories were exchanged on how the beasts had come to be and why they had been created. None of them had a solid explanation for the beasts' presence however they all shared the same irritation for them.

"They used to steal from Taranis," Brent had said when the three began to talk about the activities they would sometimes see the different monsters engaging in. "We'd sometimes find our storehouses trashed and a few Hover Boards missing. It wasn't until we found a hoard of those Lihiil things wandering the plains with vandalized Hover Boards did we discover that they were to blame."

Lihiil were no more than three feet tall, with a round head and a stubby body along with arms that were longer than their legs, Renée had then told Link. Their hands were abnormally large and extremely hairy, and mats of shaggy hair and bushy brows blocked their squinty eyes.

The actions of the fiends in Arkania were different from that of the ones in Hyrule, Link noticed. They not only stole from nearby villages but also sometimes walked into a highly populated area and goofed in the streets like little children. They would then only attack if someone tried to interfere or attempt to get rid of them. They were once large in population; however there had been a decrease in their numbers in Arkania, as well as in other countries.

Travelers would be overheard in Aimer's Inn speaking of Bokoblin corpses scattered across the plains, their eyes as wide as saucers and their dark purple skin a pale violet. At some points those traveling would catch sight of a monster walking, then suddenly falling through the grass and vanishing completely. A closer view said that the monsters had fallen into a sudden hole that was so deep that its bottom could not be seen.

Of course, these holes had been spotted in numerous places across the country, Brent pointed out. Some holes swallowed wagons hole, while others were only able to pull one or two people into its depths. They had been appearing since a little less than a year ago, and were slowly increasing in numbers. It wasn't until after Brent said this did Renée begin to keep a close eye on the road.

The drizzly rain changed to a small shower frequently before reverting back to light rainfall once again. The sound of the rain patting softly against the covering of the wagon was the only sound that accompanied the group for a majority of their half-day travel to Varron; Brent had engrossed himself in the map, Link had fallen asleep, and Renée was still keeping a wary lookout for anonymous holes as she urged the horses to go on.

On their left, the Varron woods began to thin and became rows of trees, then stretched further to the left, as though marking a borderline. Renée peered through the sheets of misty precipitation and saw, situated upon a hill, the village of Varron. She did not tell the young men behind her about the village until they were around ten minutes away from it.

Link slowly awoke at Renée's call, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and gazed out the front of the wagon and up the cobblestoned path that lead into Varron. Across from him he heard Brent roll up the map and tuck it back into his pocket.

"Hoods," Renée said to the two, pulling on her own. Brent and Link put on their own hoods, which comfortably hid their pointed ears. The horses trekked up the path steadily, then slowed to a halt at the top.

Renée hopped off the wagon and walked to the fence that blocked the edge of the cliff that the village was situated on and placed her hands on her hips. The fields were veiled in a heavy mist; it blocked the borderline of trees and obscured half the road that the group had taken.

"This'd be a nice view if it wasn't so rainy out," she commented when Brent and Link came up behind her. She turned to face them, her face practically hidden behind her long, dark side bangs and hood. "I'm gonna go and buy us some more provisions," she started. "You guys stay here with the wagon."

"We can't come?" Brent asked curiously.

"Well, I wouldn't want you guys to, you know..." she lowered her voice when someone walked by, "...get caught by Thrall Cell soldiers or something like that. I think they're actually here this week, gathering more Hylians." She looked the two over and they each nodded in understanding.

"Right, we'll wait here," Link said. "Take care of yourself."

"You too," Renée returned, her expression becoming stern. She stepped around them and melted into the slightly busy street. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder and, seeing that the two had not yet moved, continued to make her way to the marketplace of Varron.

"You keep on staring at that map," Link said to Brent a while later, his brow furrowed. "Is there something about it that bothers you?"

Brent looked over the edge of the paper to Link, and then returned his attention to the parchment's detailed drawing.

"Nah, I just decided to check the distance it is from Taranis to the Thrall Cell," he answered, his eyes scanning over the sketched landscapes of Arkania. "It'd be good to know, just in case this idea of Renée's fails. Hmm, by foot it'd take...let's see..." He muttered under his breath for a moment. "Wow, four to five days...it's a lot farther than it looks."

"Well it's a map. They don't show exact distance on a piece of paper."

"I know that," Brent retorted. He then fell silent, his mind calculating the time it would take to travel by means other than foot. "...On the Hover Boards that'd take us about a whole day. Maybe a little more," he then concluded, more to himself than to Link.

"They go that fast?" Link asked in disbelief.

"Well, at their quickest, yeah." Brent put the map away. "We usually don't use them at that speed though because, well, it's practically blinding when you fly that quick." Link thought back to the first encounter he had with a Hover Board and recalled its violent velocity. The thought of them going any quicker was both exciting and nerve-racking. "Looks like I'll have to get Aaron to find that storage of goggles..."

"Huh." Link stepped out of the way of a passerby. "You guys seem to have a lot of interesting things that make you a pretty strong group."

"Yep." Brent stretched his arms and laced his fingers behind his head and a proud smile appeared on his face. "Maybe you should join up with us. I think you'd be a good addition to the team."

A pause. "I can't do that."

Brent sat up and frowned. "Why not?"

"I already told you the reason that I came to Arkania."

"You did...?" Link did not reply and it wasn't until a few seconds later did Brent let out an 'oh' of remembrance. "Yeah you did," he murmured. "You came to find your friends, right?"

"Yeah. Four of 'em..."

"Ah, I see. Have you found any leads?"

"Ashei is with you and the other Hylian Rights members," Link started. "But the other three...are supposedly in the Thrall Cell."

"...I see..." Brent cast his eyes to the stoned ground beneath his boots. "Sorry to hear that."

"I think that joining you on this mission was a good idea," Link said a while later. The mist that had once been draped so heavily over Varron was slightly lifting, and the tops of the trees miles in the distance began to come into view. Shafts of sunlight seeped through the clouds, illuminating the wet ground. "At least I'll be able to find out how those friends of mine will be saved. And as soon as they're ready, we'll be heading back to Hyrule." Link himself was surprised at the confident and definite tone that he used.

"Heh, you don't waste any time, do you?"

Link smirked. "I try not to."

The mist steadily fell over the small community again as time slipped on. The fields were obscured behind thin sheets of rain and the trees in the distance could no longer be seen. The sunlight shafts that peeked through the clouds began to close until the plains were once again hidden in fog.

Link and Brent waited silently for Renée to return. Almost every time that they heard light and hurried footsteps, they would glance up; and every time they looked, they would see an adult bustling down the road, a small child rushing to a parent, or other persons that held no resemblance to the female member of their group.

At the clanking of armor, Brent and Link would avert their gaze from the streets and stare out at the unrelenting fog. They would not turn around until the sound of the soldier had positively died away. Now and then Link would overhear Brent muttering if he should try to find Renée—the suggestion was quickly cast away, for the two knew that searching for Renée without any secure protection over their ears was unsafe.

And it was under this insecure protection that Link finally heard the sound that he had been awaiting.

"I think she's here," he said to Brent.

"Finally!" Brent got up from leaning against the fence and made his way eagerly to the edge of the road. He was a little more than a few feet away from his comrade when a small, helmet-less soldier rushed headlong into him.

The force of the impact caused the hood on Link's traveling cloak to fly off. He stumbled to the side and successfully recovered his balance—the soldier on the other hand had no such luck. Gravity had already obtained a hold upon him and he fell heavily into a thick pile of mud.

He raised his head and spat out some of the filthy liquid, then shook his head to get most of the dirt off his face. He gasped and slowly pushed himself up from the ground, then turned to give an apology to whom he had rushed into. His mouth was partly open to speak when he caught a glimpse of pointed ears before they were hurriedly covered again.

The soldier's eyes widened and he took a step in retreat. His mind scrambled and his mouth opened and closed to find something to say as his hands fumbled for the hilt of the sword at his side. He pulled the weapon out quickly and had Link not taken a step out of the way, it would have deeply cut into his neck.

"Y-you're under arrest, Hylian!" the soldier stuttered, his blade still and firmly pointed at Link's hooded face despite its owner's anxiety. The rookie soldier's muddied and dirtied face and front did not grant him the look of authority that he had desired.

Link looked to the blade, then to the soldier's soiled face.

"Did you hear me?" the soldier said loudly, gathering the attention of nearby villagers. "I said that you are under arrest! Come with me and you will not be harmed!" The few people who had stopped to watch the outcome of the scene stared in silence and some of them began to back away.

The soldier's blade suddenly swung to Link's left and pointed to a second hooded figure that had just approached. "You! Are you with this filth?" Brent's eyes narrowed behind his hood. "Answer! Or I shall take you into custody as well!"

Brent's Bo staff shot out from beneath his cloak, its end pounding heavily into the soldier's forehead. The soldier's body swayed before he fell to the ground and his sword clattered against the cobblestoned road.

"Hey!" Both Brent and Link looked up to see another Thrall Cell soldier approaching. His sword was readily drawn and he barreled through the thin crowd of onlookers. The villagers he had crashed into looked around as though offended and shuffled around as they left the scene.

They were barely away from the situation before around seven or eight more Thrall Cell soldiers burst out of the moving crowd in the road, throwing off their cloaks or robes that had hidden them amongst the other villagers. They also drew their swords and closed in around the two Hylians.

"You might as well take off your hood now," Brent said, taking off his own. "It'll probably fly off anyway."

"Another Hylian!" one of the surrounding soldiers cried out. "Get them both!" He then charged forward, only to be blown away by a wide and powerful sweep of Brent's staff. The soldier landed with a 'clank' and moaned, struggling to get back up. The other seven soldiers glanced to each other fleetingly then moved in to attack.

Link drew his sword and blocked a swipe from one of the soldiers. The soldier yelled and pulled his sword back to follow up with another swing, a fierce war cry rumbling from his throat. Before the blow could make contact, Link's right hand whipped to his belt and out of his pouch he pulled out a handful of pumpkin seeds.

With a flick of the wrist he tossed these seeds into the open mouth of the soldier; the soldier in turn sputtered and coughed on the seeds that had suddenly jumped into his mouth. He dropped his sword to grab his throat and Link delivered a kick to his side, and then turned just in time to avoid a thrust from another soldier. The blade instead caught in his cloak and, as Link stepped to the side, made a complete tear in it.

The soldier followed through with another quick jab, which Link again sidestepped. The Hylian then clubbed the soldier on the head with his fist and the soldier fell to the ground like a limp doll. Link then barely had the time to duck under Brent's staff, which was aiming for the soldier that the he had kicked earlier.

The rod hit its mark in the soldier's unarmored stomach and as he doubled over, Brent leaped over Link's crouching body and struck the soldier to the ground with an angled strike. From Link's crouching position he lunged at another oncoming soldier and tackled him to the ground.

He held the man's writhing body between his knees and struck him in the center of the forehead with two quick punches. He rolled off the soldier just in time to avoid another attack, and instead of hitting Link the blade hit the recently fallen opponent between the legs. The soldier cried out in pain though he was unconscious—fortunately it was the flat end of the blade that had hit.

Brent and Link easily took down the remaining five soldiers. Some of the watching villagers stood by, shocked and frightened at the young mens' strength, not knowing how to approach the situation at hand. Others quickly rushed off, pretending as though they had not seen anything. Still others ran away from the fight, screaming and calling for aid and constantly shouted out 'Hylians' to hopefully get the attention of any nearby Thrall Cell soldiers.

The name of the race was heard and echoed throughout the streets, and the once timid villagers of Varron exploded into a panic. They ran around the streets, crashing into others, carts and slipped and sloshed through muddy puddles as they tried to run away from the supposedly violent and rebellious Hylians. Their terror was only raised when Brent and Link chose to mingle with the crowd.

People put every effort into diving out of the path of Brent and Link. Rarely anyone glanced back at them and if they did, their expressions were full of horror and fear—no one dared to be within a ten-foot range of the two.

The uncontrollable frenzy of the villagers made it difficult to locate Renée. Every which way he looked, all Link could see were swarms of people fighting their way through and around others in an attempt to get away from him. The screaming and shouting going on was overwhelming and Link felt a small jab of pain near his left temple.

Amidst all the cries of woe and fright, another shout arose. Link could not decipher what was being said but soon recognized it as someone demanding for people to move out of their way. Robes and cloaks flashed and darted to the left and right and Link spotted three Thrall Cell soldiers shoving their way towards him.

He gave one last sweeping glance to the crowd then dashed into the nearest throng. The small group of people Link had chosen to hide amongst burst into a new level of terror. There was much scurrying and pushing; Link was nearly elbowed in the face more than once.

He successfully shoved his way through the mob of people and emerged before a back alley. He glanced over his shoulder and this time spotted only two Thrall Cell soldiers. They looked up to him, as though knowing that he had been looking at them, and ran forward, swords drawn and Link hotfooted down the alleyway. The narrow path veered right and lead him to a small and empty road lined with cottages and stores that were barely noticeable.

"It went this way!"

Link's ears tingled when he heard the men's voices drawing nearer. He looked up and down the street then tore to the left, his cloak billowing in his wake. For a while, the only things that he could hear were his own feet pounding across the wet ground and the sound of his panting. He then came to a complete stop and slipped in between two of the small houses lining the street. The space was small and cramped, nevertheless Link managed to squeeze in. Here he knelt, waited, and listened.

Rain pattered softly against the cobblestoned road. The citizens' screaming and shouting was heard in the distance, neither fading nor growing. The Thrall Cell soldiers' feet pounded on the ground from the direction Link had come from, steadily coming nearer.

And yet, above it, he heard another sound: light and hurried footsteps.

They were coming from the opposite direction of the soldiers and were also drawing closer. The person stumbled, gasped and regained their footing, their pace slightly slower until their speed descended to a slow jog, then a simple walk.

Merely a moment later Link could see the figure: it was not Renée as he had originally presumed but it was a female. She stood at around a half a foot shorter than Renée and her damp and brown hair hid her face.

She stood, frozen, in the middle of the road with her hands pressed to her chest. She took a small step in retreat as the Thrall Cell soldiers approached her.

"You there!" one of them called. He sheathed his sword and stopped in front of her. "Did you see a Hylian pass by?"

"H-Hylian?" The girl's voice came out squeaky and nervous—whether it was her real tone or she spoke like that due to her fear of the authority before her, Link did not know. "I didn't see one."

"Are you sure?" the second soldier inquired. Unlike his partner, he kept his sword in hand and brandished it by his side. The girl took another retreating movement and looked to her right, then behind the soldiers, then behind her self. "No, I'm sure that I did not see any..."

She turned to her left; her eyes rolled over the hunched figure of Link squished in between the cottages, then doubled back, widening in fear.

The girl opened her mouth to cry out.

Link launched himself out of his hiding place.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

There were hardly any more villagers scattering across Varron—only Thrall Cell soldiers remained. There were around twenty of them in all, Brent guessed, and they were slowly closing in on him like hounds following a scent.

He pulled his hood over his head and let his traveling cloak fall over his form as best it could. Assured that he was mostly covered, Brent ran out from behind the overturned cart. He kept his head low and clutched his rod close to his side beneath his cloak, out of sight. He heard the soldiers shift to look at him.

"That could be the Hylian!"

"Get it!"

"No, hold on." The Thrall Cell soldiers who had taken a few steps toward the sudden being that had appeared stopped short and turned to face the Head Officer. "It's most likely just another citizen who took this chance to run away." The soldiers lowered their weapons and gazed after Brent doubtfully. "In any case, you all search the west side." The soldiers saluted and took off in their assigned direction. "You, men! Over there; the east side is yours!" Five soldiers headed for the eastern roads of Varron. "And you men, with me! We shall secure the exits. No one is entering or leaving this village until the Hylians have been apprehended."

"Sir!"

"And be on your guard. They are a violent race."

* * *

Brent skidded to a halt, nearly losing his balance as he slipped on the smooth and watered stones of the road. He looked around the street he was on, discovering that he was its only inhabitant.

_Of course_, he reasoned in his mind. _All of the villagers had been afraid of you and ran away._

He sighed and continued down the road at a walk, his eyes flicking about to find any sign of movement, his ears listening for any familiar sounds. He was halfway down the road when he heard a distant shuffle of footsteps. The sound of the being's feet slowed to a jog, then a trot, until they came to a complete stop. The being panted heavily and gasped.

"Where'd they go...?"

Renée leaned against the side of a building, one hand propped under the sack of provisions hanging from her waist. She pushed herself off the wall and looked up, her eyes resting on the lone figure in the road before her.

She stared for a moment, sure that all the citizens had locked themselves inside of their homes. She then averted her gaze and busied herself with retying her makeshift sack to keep it from slipping off of her. When she looked up from her work, the person had come close enough for her to make out who it was.

"Brent!" Her fatigue forgotten, Renée jogged forward, beaming, and wrapped her arms around her companion. "Thank goodness...I thought you had gotten caught..." She then frowned and released him, looking around him as though expecting someone else to appear. "Where's...Link...?"

Brent grit his teeth behind his pressed lips. "We...got separated in all the commotion."

"Separated?" Renée burst out, her expression breaking into a look of horror. "Oh no...what if he got caught?"

"Hey, calm down. I'm sure the guy can handle himself. He doesn't seem like the type to let himself get caught by soldiers like _that._ Heh, shoulda seen him fight. He was like a freaking animal."

"Does that have anything to with the situation right now?" Renée questioned, visibly worried. "We should go and find him. Do you have any idea where he could be?"

"I told you we got separated _in all the commotion_."

"...Right." Renée ran her fingers through her hair and stared at the ground, searching her mind for a solution. The time to figure out such a thought was never given to her, for Brent abruptly pulled her off the road and into a side street.

Here he kept a firm grip on her wrist and pulled her alongside him as he stepped further and further away from the main road. Then Renée heard it above the soft rain: clanging armor and orders being given.

"You search this part. I'm looking over here."

"I'll search this road!"

"Shout when you find it!"

"Understood!"

Brent turned his head enough to be able to see Renée out of the corner of his eye. "C'mon," he whispered. He then turned and dashed down the side road, Renée sprinting at his heels to keep from falling. Brent took a sharp left turn; Renée skittered to follow. Here the path ended with an iron bar fence.

Brent leaped over this small obstacle and fell into the alleyway. Renée crawled over the fence and hopped down, landing beside the Hylian. "Okay," she said in a hushed tone. "Soldiers. Now what—"

"Ssh!" Brent hissed, putting a finger to his lips and pressing his back against the wall. He adjusted his hood to blend in with the darkness of the alley and fell still. A mere second later, Renée heard the short metallic sounds of armor rubbing together and moved to Brent's side. She pulled her knees up close to her body and held her breath.

The soldier stopped at the entrance to the short path that the two were hidden beneath. He looked down the alleyway, debating if it was worth his time, then approached the bar fence.

He stood in that spot a moment, staring down the dark back street, then stepped forward and placed a hand on the iron railing. His eyes roved over the cramped street and when he heard a small squeak he jumped and tensed.

He examined the road again only to find that the sound he had heard was merely a rat scavenging through the garbage for a late midday snack. The officer remained where he was for what seemed an eternity, his fingers drumming against the railing of the fence, until he finally dismissed any suspicions of the alleyway and returned to the side road.

Renée exhaled slowly, still aware of the soldier nearby. "That was close," she said softly, looking at Brent.

"Yeah, and I don't think I'd like it to be any closer," he answered. "Let's go." He began to crawl forward.

"Go where?"

"Anywhere. We can't stay here." Renée remained where she was, searching for a reply, and when nothing came to her mind she resorted to following Brent's lead.

The two made their way down the tight road, crouching and ducking beneath empty clotheslines and stepping over various waste products until they emerged near what Brent presumed to be the western part of Varron.

He stepped out of the back street and stretched his cramped muscles. "We should start our search for Link here," he said to Renée over his shoulder. "Once we find him, we'll see if we can get that wagon back. And if we can't we'll continue to Revale on foot." Renée nodded an unenthusiastic nod. "All right... Let's start looking."

* * *

It was amazing how much a female was capable of screaming.

The girl the Thrall Cell soldiers had briefly interrogated had squealed hysterically when Link had jumped out from between the houses, then screamed and wailed as he moved in a blur of movement—his sword lashing about in unpredictable ways—as he took down the two officers.

Even when the second soldier had fallen, limp and unconscious, the girl continued to whimper. Losing all possible strength in her legs, she collapsed to her knees, fear seizing her in its maddened grip. She covered her mouth, attempting to keep any reminder of her presence away from the Hylian, yet a few squeaks managed to slip from between her fingers. When Link looked down to her, she fell completely and utterly silent.

Though there was no blood on his weapon, no gory stains upon his clothing, nothing that could make Link appear overwhelmingly intimidating, the girl fainted.

_Leave,_ said all of Link's instincts. _You need to get out of here._

But Link frowned and did not move. The possibilities of someone finding the three laying on the ground before him at that time were slim, however what of the time when everyone chose to exit their homes?

Hylians are not trustworthy; Hylians are selfish; Hylians are not friendly; they will kill you; they are inconsiderate. These are a few of the thoughts that Link presumed to be directed towards his race. If he left the three as they were now, the next thing to be added to the list would be "merciless".

But did it matter? He was not part of this country anyway—and the guards had proved a threat to both him and the fainted girl. He had saved her life. If he ridiculed the Hylian name in Arkania any more with this simple act of self-defense, he was sure that no one would seek him out.

And it was such a small incident—the girl would wake up, and so would the soldiers, before anyone had the opportunity to come back outside, and they would resume their lives. Slowly, the memory of Link jumping at them from between two houses would be erased from their mind.

Besides, Link had not done anything before that would impact the Hylians of Arkania greatly that could pile up on top of this situation.

Not _he_, anyway.

_That impostor..._

A wave of irritation and anger coursed through Link's veins. What sort of person would choose to mirror his image and then murder hundreds of humans and Hylians alike? He gritted his teeth and his fists clenched tightly by his sides.

_What sort of person..._

There was a stir of movement below him, calling him out of his thoughts.

The girl was sitting up, surprisingly and slowly; her dark eyes looking around the rainy street dreamily. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, then scooped up the hat that had fallen off her head.

She brushed it off distractedly then replaced it upon her now damp head. Suddenly she tensed and her head turned to the side slightly, cautiously, carefully, moving as if she were afraid that her neck would break if she turned too quickly.

Unable to bear the suspense any longer, the girl twisted her head and her eyes locked with Link's. His eyes stared blankly into her horror-filled ones as she inched away from him, and he made no sudden movements as the distance between them increased.

Her lips trembled and parted multiple times, presumably threatening to release a scream that was itching at the back of her throat. When she finally had the courage to open her mouth, she spoke instead.

"H-Hylian..." Her voice was very hoarse—most likely from her earlier screaming fits—and so soft that Link could barely decipher what she had said. "A...Hylia..." Her voice rose to a high whine and cut off. Her next few breaths came out short and hurried and her lungs struggled to take in the air they needed. It didn't take Link long for him to realize that the girl was on the verge of fainting for the second time.

He instinctively took a step forward, then coiled back in regret as the girl swayed and her elbows nearly crumbled beneath her. Her eyes rolled and her arms began to tremble, readying themselves for the loss of all their strength.

Link turned away from the young woman, for a familiar sound had caught his attention, and faced the opposite end of the street. There were more than three this time...at least five. Maybe six? He glanced back to the girl to find that she too had heard the newly approaching soldiers.

Her body gave off the air of attention and tension, her eyes wide and directed at the other end of the road. As Link guessed, six Thrall Cell soldiers emerged from around the corner, spreading out as they each called out areas to search. They hadn't seen the two yet.

Link turned his back on the soldiers and made to dash down the road, however he caught sight of the girl below him. Her lips were parting again, this time there being no doubt, in order to release the scream that was crawling in the back of her throat for escape—

Link dove forward and covered the girl's mouth, sealing away the shout that had barely escaped. He stood, keeping his hand over her mouth as he carried her, and ran down the road, leaving the unconscious soldiers and the wary ones in his wake.

The girl beat relentlessly at his shoulders and chest with her small fists, shaking her head and writhing in his arms in an attempt to grasp freedom. Link's grip on her only hardened and the girl suffocated on a gasp of surprise, then continued with her vain struggle.

At the end of the road, Link skidded to a halt and dodged to the left, throwing himself and the girl behind an unmanned cart that had been selling a variety of vegetables. The girl squirmed in his arms, attempting to shout behind Link's hands, however her voice came out strangled and muffled. When the couple Thrall Cell soldiers that Link had previously avoided by jumping behind the cart walked by, his eyebrows knit together and he tensed.

The girl froze beneath him, staring in terror at the fierce-looking being that hung over her. When the sound of the soldiers started to come from a decent distance, Link rose from behind the cart, leaving only his head visible. He scanned the rainy and empty streets then stood to his full height.

He heard the girl rise behind him and lean nervously against the wall. Her saucer-sized eyes stared down the street to where the soldiers had vanished, and the temptation to scream came upon her again. She gave in and again managed to let out a quick "ah" before Link had covered her mouth once more.

"You had me trusting you there for a second."

The girl whimpered faintly and averted her gaze from Link. His blue eyes were wild—almost feral—and although there was kindness somewhere deep inside them, they scared her.

"You don't have to be afraid," Link continued, unwillingly, feeling it necessary to assure his temporary hostage. "I don't plan on hurting you. But if you scream and give away where I am, I might."

The girl's face instantly paled and Link's face fell.

"I..." He paused. "...Was kidding."

The girl's brown eyes rolled and she slid down the wall just a little, a muffled whine sounding from behind Link's gloved hand.

"I _finally _find you."

Link looked up, surprised to see one of his former comrades standing at the head of the road.

Brent folded his arms. "Do you know how hard it is to look for someone with those soldiers roaming around? Not to mention the fact that Varron's not that small. And Renée's been worried sick about—who's this?" Brent interrupted his own words at the sight of the girl leaning against the side of a building, Link's hand still pressed to her mouth. Realizing this, he promptly removed it. "You have no idea how weird that looked."

"I can imagine," Link answered. The girl looked from Link to Brent and back, then her eyes lingered on Brent, searching for his face beneath the shadow of his hood and the wet bangs that clung to his face. "She's just a villager that I ran into who would've gotten me caught had I not taken her away with me."

"Hm." Brent briefly vanished around the corner then returned. "What do you plan on doing with her?"

"Actually I was planning on letting her go."

Brent waited a moment before speaking. "What?"

"There's no reason for me to hang on to her. She'll just have to promise that she won't tell the soldiers who and where we are and we'll pretend like this never happened. We can get back to the wagon and leave."

"Leave?" Brent repeated, his arms falling by his sides. "We can't _leave_. Those Thrall Cell soldiers are blocking all the exits! No one's getting in or out of Varron until you and I, and possibly Renée, are caught."

"Ah."

Renée came around the corner, readjusting the sack tied around her waist. She looked up to Brent's stern face and set jaw, to Link's look of deep thought, then to the pale girl against the wall.

Seeing Renée, the girl stopped her short attempt at fleeing the scene. Renée opened her mouth to inquire, however Brent answered her before a sound emitted: "A girl who nearly got Link caught had he not taken her with him."

"Oh."

Brent looked down to the girl. "What's your name?"

All eyes and ears directed their attention to the trembling girl. With her hair and hat askew, her muddy attire and her eyes wide and terror-filled, she looked like an untamed and wild creature. She looked from Brent, to Renée, and to Link in turn. Her throat was dry and her voice barely audible when she spoke first, so she licked her lips and brushed a few locks of hair out of her eyes before trying again.

"L-Lola," she stammered. "My name is Lola."

"Well, Lola, we need a place to stay now," Brent started, his tone less stern than it had been earlier. "Know any place that's inconspicuous?" Lola hesitated. "No, huh? Thought not."

"Like a hideaway?" Renée suggested. "Somewhere that's not used? Like a shack or something?" Lola shook her head.

"Any place safe?" Link asked. Again Lola paused, then she took a deep breath, struggling to keep it steady.

"My...attic..." she said softly.

"What?" Renée leaned forward slightly.

"Her attic," Link said.

"You could stay there, I think," Lola said a bit louder this time. "Until you can leave."

"But we'd be bringing you into danger with us," Renée piped up, already feeling sorry for the girl. "Those soldiers are after us after all and if they find you hanging out with us you could be sent to the Thrall Cell!"

"Thrall Cell?" Lola frowned then realization dawned upon her. "Oh...I've heard rumors of that place. It's where all Hylians and anyone who helps them go, right?" Renée nodded in a stiff manner and Lola bit her lip. Silence settled over the small group. "But...I was taught that I should help those in need..."

She took a deep breath. "Yes. I will help you." She walked around the circle of strangers and stood at the head of the street, behind Brent. "My house is this way." She walked around the corner and Link, Brent and Renée made to follow.

Lola lead the three mainly through alleyways, keeping the thought of patrolling Thrall Cell soldiers in mind. At times though, they did pass through on main or side roads. They came across Thrall Cell soldiers multiple times, and it was at these points the small group would be forced to find a hiding spot within a short amount of time. Their quick escapes began to turn into narrow escapes, to in-the-nick-of-time escapes, to way-too-close escapes. All of them were relieved when, standing between a potion shop and its storage shack, Lola finally told them that they had arrived.

Her home was small-sized, with a window by the front door and smoke puffing from its chimney. A thin stream of orange light shone between the curtains in the window; a shadow in the house passed it by, though none of them noticed. Lola poked her head out into the street, keeping low to the ground and looked both ways: rain on the left, rain on the right and not a soldier or villager in sight. She looked back to her shingled home with uncertainty then to the three behind her.

"Come on."

Each of them bustled out from between the two buildings and gathered around the door of Lola's home. The girl fumbled with the lock and when managing to get the door open she stepped inside first, leaving the door open for her guests. As they all filed inside, she surveyed the room, then stepped off the welcome mat.

The staircase that was at the right of the room was hidden in the darkness and its steps seemed to lead into a dark abyss. A fire crackled and popped in the hearth near the far left corner of the room, lighting the place dimly with its flashing colors. A dinner table was situated in the very center of the room, an unlit lantern on top of it and two chairs pulled up underneath it. There was a sink cluttered with pots opposite the fireplace, and shelves of plates, cups and other saucers and eating utensils beside it.

Lola retrieved the lantern that was on the table and switched it on. The small flame's light flickered and danced upon her facial features, revealing each line of worry etched upon her skin.

"I don't think my dad is home yet," she started, her voice faint. "I'll take you to the attic." Holding the lantern high to illuminate the stairs, Lola approached the staircase and placed a pale hand upon the railing.

She put a foot on the bottom step, and above her a _thunk_ was heard. Lola raised the lantern above her head, lighting each step until the light shined upon the top of someone's shining head. She gasped and stepped back, hitting the wall.

"Credelia?"

Lola blinked, glanced to the three by her door, and adjusted the height of the lantern. She stared into the face of her father. He was a man about a head taller than she, with a single bald spot at the top of his head.

His mouth opened soundlessly as he stared at his daughter, looking fairly shocked to see her standing there. He thundered down the steps, nearly sending his daughter's heart into a high-speed panic, and gripped her by the shoulders.

"Do you know how _worried _I was? One second you're with me when we're fleeing from those Hylians and the next you're not beside me anymore!" He pulled her into a suffocating hug. "I thought they had gotten you." He held her at arm's length and looked her up and down, concern lining his features. "Look at you...you're covered with dirt and grime...your hair's a mess...what happened to you?" Credelia trembled in his arms, then shrugged herself out of his grasp and stared at him with pleading eyes. "What's wrong?"

He looked to his right, his brow furrowed in confusion, then jumped when he laid eyes on Link's visible ears. "Oh my gods!" He turned to Credelia. "What...what..." He lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper. "_What is it doing in our house?_"

"We can hear you, you know," Brent said. Credelia's father looked up to him, feeling intimidated by the young man's height. He stood there, frozen for a moment, then the color of his face darkened to a beet red and his eyebrows practically intertwined as they were forced together, giving the father an insane look.

"No...no, get out! Get out right _now!_" He jammed his finger at the door behind them. "Get of here you filthy...mangy..." His mustache twisted as he frowned, and his hand began to tremble. "I don't want you people near me or my daughter! Leave!"

Renée hesitantly reached out for the door handle.

"No!" Credelia gripped the handle of the lantern so hard that her knuckles turned even paler than her skin. "I...I told them that I would help them."

"And why would you say something like that?!" Her father rounded on her, all of his frustration beginning to pour out. "They're helping that _Hylian, _Credelia, do you know what those are? Vile, self-righteous, self-centered, devilish, violent—"

"We're right here," Brent piped up, frowning.

The father ignored him. "—horrendous, _monsters_ that will do anything to get what they want! They'll tear you apart, they'll...they'll get us sent to the Thrall Cell!"

"You taught me to always help those in need!" Credelia reminded him, appearing much more strict and confident than she had been earlier. "Always!"

"I did _not_ teach you that," her father retorted, his voice low. "That was your mother."

"Then you should've listened too," Credelia replied coolly. "She was right in teaching me that!"

"But when she taught it to you do you think that she included Hylians?"

"Yes, I think she did."

The room fell silent except for the popping of the fire in the fireplace and the faint cracking of the fire in Credelia's lantern. Brent, Link and Renée did not move nor try to provoke the father or his daughter in any way, and instead stood upon the welcome mat, wavering between staying put or leaving altogether.

The father broke the silence by letting out a long and heavy sigh. The man rubbed his bald spot, then ran his fingers through his thinning hair.

"Where did you plan on having them stay?" he asked. He spoke slow, picking out the right words and changing his tone halfway in between to show that he was not giving in.

"I was going to let them stay in the attic," Credelia answered, her fingers loosening on the lantern's handle, allowing the blood to flow once more.

"The girl, too?"

Credelia blinked then looked to Renée, then to each of the young men on either side of her. Renée shook her head hurriedly, her dark hair throwing drops of water everywhere as it whipped around her face.

"No," Credelia said. "She can stay...in my room."

The father nodded and rubbed his eyes, then sighed again and gazed into space.

Credelia waited with bated breath.

Link glanced out through the translucent curtains that covered the window, spotting a few villagers walking down the street. He turned back to face Credelia and her father and braced himself for the outcome.

The father covered his face with one hand. "I can't believe this..." He exhaled through his nose then looked to Credelia. They stared at each other for a long while until the father finally gave a small and curt nod. "I...Fine. But they better leave as soon as those soldiers are gone."

Credelia smiled softly and nodded. She looked back to Link and company and beckoned them to follow her up the stairs. The three of them walked by the father without a glance and trooped to the upper floor.

On the second floor, Credelia hopped over the final step and rounded the railing. "Careful," she said to the one behind her. "That last step's tricky. If you step on it, it may..." She lifted the lantern to see who she had been directing and paused as Link stepped over the stair. "...break under your weight."

Link stepped out of the way of Renée and Brent then turned to follow after them. Noticing Credelia looking up at him, he held her gaze for a second, broke it, and walked through the darkness and into the hall.

Credelia remained rooted to the spot, her heart pounding with some left over adrenaline from the entire rush of the day. She inhaled through her nose, exhaled through her mouth, then turned to lead her guests to their new quarters.

The hallway was short and narrow with only three doors: one was her bedroom, one a room for the baths and the other was her father's. She opened the furthest one, revealing her room, which was a simple dwelling area with a single bed pressed against the wall and a desk and chair adjacent to it. A mirror was propped up atop the desk and a hairbrush lay before it, a few strands of hair poking out from its depths. The window was open, letting in a muggy wind. The rain had still not let up.

Credelia placed the lantern on her desk and pulled the window shut, then closed the curtains. "This is my room," she said to Renée. "You'll be staying in here with me."

She exited the bedroom and looked up at the ceiling, searching for a particular white string, the light from her room aiding her in the search. She located it and reached up, her fingers barely grazing against its tip. She huffed and hopped again, and this time her fingers slid against it.

Link came from behind Renée and Brent and stood across from Credelia. He reached up to the string with ease and gave it a light tug.

"Wait, don't stand—" Credelia's voice was cut short by a slab of wood falling from the ceiling and crashing into Link's forehead. "—there..."

Link rubbed his head and ducked under the attic's trap door. "Thanks for the warn—" A ladder hit him in the back of the head, forcing him to the ground. He moaned and lay on the floor, his mind working to retain consciousness. Above him he heard someone stifle a snort of laughter.

"Link, are you all right?" Renée knelt in front of him and pulled him from beneath the stepladder that hung inches from the floor. He grunted and sat up, his head spinning and throbbing simultaneously.

"Thahurt..." he slurred, rising to his feet. He felt the back of his head and, as expected, felt a bump. "Ugh..."

Brent let out a short bark of laughter and pointed to the bump on Link's forehead. "Man, would you look at _that_! Thing's the size of a wagon! Ha, ha!" Brent spread his arms out, exaggerating the size of the swelling of Link's forehead. "You look hilarious!"

Link looked to Renée. She shook her head and allowed a small smile to cross her face. "It's not bad," she told him, eying the bump. "If we treat it now it should go down by tomorrow." However Brent's snickering did not add positively to the reassuring comment.

Credelia looked at each of them, waiting to catch their eye. When none of them looked to her, she pushed her way past them to get to the stairs. "I'll go and get a cold cloth," she said, though she was unsure if any of them had heard her over Brent's laughter. She waited at the head of the stairs for a few seconds, then hopped the first step and galloped down the staircase.

"All right, let's check this out," Brent said, ending his mockery of Link's forehead. He climbed up the ladder and vanished into the depths of the attic and Link crawled up after him. "Watch your head," came Brent's voice from somewhere within. "It's a low ceiling. Wouldn't want to get another bump would you?" He chortled. "You'd have a matching three piece set like that thing, the Triforce: the Bump of Power, the Bump of Courage and the Bump of Wisdom!" He laughed again. "Aha, I crack me up!"

Link hoisted himself into the attic and peered through the dark of the small room. "You know what that is?" He felt a familiar, yet small tingle on the back of his left hand and quickly pulled it behind him.

"Course I do! It's important for Hylians to study up on their race's legends, right? I even know the story of the first guy who went and tried to steal the thing in the first place. Ah, Ganondorf I think his name was."

Ganondorf.

Link had not heard that name in over a year now, and it still sent a shudder down his back. The man had evaded death more than once, and had not even died at the hands of the Sages. He had been a formidable opponent, Link had to admit, but it had only been because of the power that he had stolen.

And that simple theft had created a long chain across the expanses of time. In every generation there had been someone amongst the people who rose to beat Ganondorf back into the pit where he had come from. Yet after every defeat he had returned, more powerful and deranged than before, bent, twisted and centering everything on greed and revenge. Link felt relieved when he had finally put a stop to the madman.

And yet for some reason, Link never felt that Ganondorf had really truly died.

A flicker of light on the furthest end of the attic.

The source of the light proved to be an old and worn lantern that Brent had unearthed from the heaps of keepsakes stacked in a corner of the room. Brent set the lantern down on the floor and fished through the crates and boxes again.

"Man, these guys are pack rats..." He frowned, stuck his arm further into a box, and pulled out a small ball. He squeezed it twice and the ball squeaked, or rather attempted to; it sounded more like molded air forcing itself out of multiple holes in the ball's surface. Brent tossed the dusty squeak toy over his shoulder and returned to shifting through the other forsaken items.

"Why are you going through their stuff?" Link asked, looking around the old, topmost floor. The ceiling was indeed low as Brent had said, reaching a height that would only allow the two Hylians to stand with their backs slightly bent. The lantern's light stretched to the other end of the attic, revealing a wooden-bar window that looked down into the streets of Varron. Other than the high mound that Brent was half hidden behind, there was nothing interesting about the attic.

"I'm looking for something to sleep on," Brent answered. "They've gotta have somethin' that's soft that I could rest my head...on..." He pulled out a doll: it's head was almost bald, and one eye and leg was missing. He tossed it back into the crate he had pulled it from, pushed it aside, and moved on to a rectangular box.

Link crawled away from the entrance to the attic and leaned against a wall, carefully resting his head against it to keep from agitating his aching skull. Brent continued to rummage and clatter around in the corner, pausing to examine something every now and then.

Around ten minutes later, a bucket full of cold water with a single white cloth floating in it came into view in the attic's entrance. Two tanned hands then pushed the bucket onto the floor and Renée raised her head through the square entrance.

She surveyed the dim room quickly, spotting Link against the wall. She smiled to him and crawled up onto the attic floor, pushing the bucket out of her way. She then dragged it with her as she made her way to Link's side.

"You all right?"

"You mean my head? Not really."

Renée reached into the bucket and pulled out the white cloth. She rung it out until it was damp, folded it, and looked to the bump on Link's forehead. "Ooh..." She brushed a few strands of Link's hair away then withdrew her hand quickly. "It...sort of got bigger." She pressed the cold cloth to the bump and a shiver went down Link's spine. He reached up to hold the cloth himself and Renée moved her hand to let him. "Well, now you've learned to not stand underneath a trap door."

"Didn't know it was there," Link mumbled, flipping the cloth over.

"That's okay." Renée settled herself into a comfortable seating position. "We all make mistakes."

Brent pulled out a small box from the depths of another container and eyed its delicate design in interest. He turned the box to its opposite side and blinked, spotting a small, silver knob. He twisted this knob a few times until he heard a small _click_ and the box opened of its own accord. Then, softly, came the sound of a lullaby.

"Hey, a music box!"

The tune of the lullaby rose to a high-pitched whine, like that of a cat demanding its breakfast, and Brent hurriedly closed it.

"A broken music box..." He placed it back inside the crate.

"Brent, why are you looking through all of that?" Renée inquired, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm lookin' for somethin' to rest my head on," he answered, continuing with his search. "But I don't think I'm getting any warmer..." He pushed aside a teddy bear, its stuffing protruding from its armpits, and spotted a dress that looked like it could fit on to a three-year-old girl. "Definitely not."

"I could ask for something for you, you know," Renée said, her brow furrowing. "You don't have to go and sneak through their keepsakes." Brent pushed his hood off his head and shook his hair out, returning it to its original spikiness. He flipped blue locks of hair out of his eyes and moved the crate that he had been digging through back to its former location.

"I could ask myself," he retorted and faced her, crossing his legs and placing one hand on his knee as he did so.

"Well, Credelia and her father don't seem too comfortable around Hylians," Renée explained, glancing between the two, waiting for a reaction. When she received none she continued: "In fact, Credelia's been talking to me for a while now. Her father's pretty quiet though. Which reminds me, I'm washing up after Credelia and once I'm done you guys can go and clean up, too."

Brent snorted. "Men don't take baths."

"Yeah? What do you do instead: roll around in the mud?"

"Precisely," Link answered, dunking his cloth into the bucket. Brent laughed and Renée shook her head.

"Fine. Stink up the attic all you want." She crawled towards the attic entrance, then stepped down the ladder. "You sure you don't want to take a bath?" her voice sounded worriedly from below a few moments after the sound of her descending footsteps had halted.

"I don't like being naked in unfamiliar areas," came Brent's reply.

"I—" Renée's mind then registered her friend's answer. "Wh-huh?"

"I'm joking. I'll take one later." Brent lay flat on his back and rested his head upon his hands. "And you, Link?"

"Same here," he said, his head down as he pressed the cold, damp cloth to his forehead.

"All right."

Renée followed the direction of the short and narrow corridor, knocking twice on the first door on her left. She heard Credelia's voice allow her entry, and she stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

The young woman was seated at her dresser, combing out the dripping wet tangles in her dark hair before her mirror.

Renée remained where she was at the door, rocking on the balls of her feet and glancing around the dully decorated bedroom. She then pulled out the clip in her hair, allowing her dark locks to fall gently over her shoulders and partway down her back. She scratched her head and shook out the small knots, then finger combed her hair idly for a moment.

She then pressed her back to the door and crossed her arms across her chest. "So, ah...where are your towels?"

"Oh...folded and in a basket by the baths. And I also placed a nightgown in there for you," Credelia replied distantly, placing her hairbrush on her dresser. She stared blankly at her reflection, yet paid no mind to who the mirror's glass mimicked.

Renée nodded, believing that her host's mind had wandered elsewhere, and left, again shutting the door behind her. She then went next door, to the bathroom, and scanned the area for any sight of the basket that Credelia had mentioned.

She spotted the container in a corner of the room, its cover laying neatly beside it. Renée approached the item and peeked inside and, as told, saw a neat pile of around three or four towels. She lifted one out of the stack and placed it atop a shelf attached to the wall. On top of the towel she had picked, Renée placed her hair clip, then proceeded to add her clothing to the pile.

Her bath time was around a little over an hour. She had been utterly disgusted when discovering all of the grime that had situated itself upon her body and under her nails, as well as in her hair. She scrubbed frantically, repeatedly, not stopping until she was assured that she was as clean as she could get. She lay in the slightly soapy bathwater for a little longer when she was finished, letting its warmth cover her entirely. Had it not been for the heavy knock at the door, there was the possibility that she would have drifted to sleep in the hot room.

The voice calling to her on the other side of the door proved to be Brent's—though what he was saying was not clear to her due to it coming from behind a closed door.

However Renée perceived that he was calling for her to exit the bathroom: so she quickly dried off and dressed herself in her borrowed night dress. She then tossed her used towel into a pile off beside the tub, and grabbed her other clothes.

She folded them, then held them across her chest and made her way to the door. She twisted the knob and pulled, then gave another hard yank and the door flew open.

"Finally," Brent muttered as Renée pushed by him without a glance. "Girls and baths..." Renée shot him a look over her shoulder before returning to Credelia's bedroom.

Once Brent and Link had too cleaned themselves off, Credelia explained to them the precautions that they would all have to take. The first thing that she told them was that Link and Brent would have to stay in the attic at all times—unless they needed to go to the bathroom.

Credelia's father had stated that they would need to be hidden just in case the Thrall Cell soldiers decided to search the homes of the villagers for them. Credelia would bring food to the two at mealtimes, and she would take away their dirty dishes when she too had finished eating. Although Brent and Link were not too fond of the thought of living in an attic and being served like prisoners, they agreed.

Renée was said to be an old childhood friend visiting from the coasts of Bemuul. Renée herself had suggested the idea to avoid any suspicions that she was traveling with the two Hylians. Their plans set for how they would be staying in the household of Credelia and her father, they began to talk about their thoughts on how they would be leaving Varron.

Fortunately, Credelia's father volunteered to pick up their wagon by the front of the village once the search had died down. After many debates and short arguments, Link, Brent and Renée decided that they would leave as soon as the searches had ceased. Even the father was keen on the idea: the quicker the three were gone, the better.

Their plans now officially set and agreed upon, the five began to settle into their new quarters. Link, Renée and Brent were each given a blanket and a pillow, along with an apology from Credelia about how they would have to sleep on hard floors. Wishes for good nights were exchanged, and the group went to sleep.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

The next morning, the Thrall Cell soldiers remained in the village. All that passed into and out of Varron were interrogated and their wagons and carriages were searched. Once or twice Hylians were discovered in entering wagons. No neck irons were found upon the Hylians to show that they were slaves, and so both they and their escorts were immediately taken away. The timid villagers of Varron spoke amongst themselves of the Thrall Cell, saying that that was where the Hylians and their helpers were being taken.

Among those rumors, people also suggested that the Hylians were taken to the gallows to be hung for their ancestors' sins. Yet amidst those rumors the Hylians were said to be tossed into the Great Sea. And among those rumors the Hylians were said to be beheaded.

While out one day shopping with Credelia, Renée overheard a few villagers conversing that the Hylians were transformed into "shadow" beings that had been spotted in the fields at night. Many disagreed with this theory because they had never seen these Shadows. However the ones who went along with the thought tried to convince others.

"I saw one," said a middle-aged man to the slightly older woman who had told of her Shadow sightings. "Just the other night when I was getting water from the well on the edge of town! As soon as I saw it though, it shrieked like a banshee and vanished!"

Renée kept his testimony in mind.

She and her Hylian comrades remained in Varron for another two days, and still the Thrall Cell soldiers were persistent. Once the third day of Link, Brent and Renée's stay had rolled around, Credelia's father took it upon himself to finally go and retrieve their wagon from the entrance of the village.

Credelia offered to go with him, but he told her to remain at home, just in case a soldier showed up. His daughter reluctantly agreed and watched her father depart.

At the village entrance, Credelia's father surveyed the area: there were two Thrall Cell soldiers standing at the posts that marked the entrance of Varron. Their backs were to him as he approached, and it wasn't until he stepped through a puddle did they turn to face him.

"You there," the one on the right called to him. "Who are you?"

"Helmer," Credelia's father answered, "a mere stable handler come to retrieve his wagon, is all." He looked around and frowned. "Where _is_ my wagon?"

"The horses were disturbing the villagers," the soldier on the left said. "So the wagon and its animals were taken elsewhere, for a purpose that you do not need to concern yourself with."

"That so?" Helmer answered, his brow bristling as he furrowed it. "Well it's my wagon—I think I deserve to know what you did with it."

"That wagon had been around for two days—if you really owned it, you would have retrieved it long ago." The soldier's voice was full of skepticism.

"With those Hylians about?" Helmer retorted after a one-second hesitation. "I'd rather take my chances and wait a while—"

"Commander!" The soldier that Helmer had been speaking to turned to face the village's entrance, for coming up the hill was another Thrall Cell officer, riding in the wagon that Helmer had come to take. Helmer made no sudden movements, but stayed put and watched the scene before him in silence.

"So, you've finally returned, and quicker than I expected," the Commander said. The soldier hopped off the wagon and approached his superior officer, bowing respectfully. "Did you meet with the Governess?"

"Yes, sir!" the soldier answered.

"And what was her reply?"

"She has ordered for us to leave the Hylians as they were," the soldier answered half-heartedly as well as softly. The Commander tensed and brushed a few loose strands of hair out of his face.

"Her direct orders, I presume?"

"Direct orders, sir," the soldier continued. "She says that they pose no threat to us—"

"What is that blasted girl thinking," the Commander interrupted, clenching his fist, " 'Hylians pose no threat'? Does she not know of their history? Those traitorous beings—"

"With all do respect, sir," the soldier that had arrived interjected, slightly shrinking when the Commander eyed him angrily, "I propose that we go along with the Governess's orders and return to the capital. We can continue searching for more Hylians in another town..."

The Commander's eyes narrowed dangerously and the officer swallowed the rest of his words. The Commander averted his gaze from the quivering soldier beneath him and stared into the distance of the fields surrounding the village.

The mist from the rain from both the day before and earlier that morning was slowly and steadily beginning to lift, and the trees that bordered Varron from much of the rest of Arkania were beginning to show. Here and there, small and harmless monsters darted throughout the fields and birds found it a good time to leave their nests.

The Commander turned to Helmer and inclined his head towards the wagon. "So you're saying that this belongs to you?"

Helmer nodded.

The Commander didn't speak for a long moment, then he nodded stiffly. "Take it."

Helmer climbed into the seat of the wagon and gripped the horses' reins. "Many thanks, sir," he said to the Commander, and nodded to the other soldiers. He slapped the horses with the reins and they trotted forward leaving the soldiers and their suspicious gazes in his wake.

Helmer brought the wagon and the horses to the stable that was not very far from his house. He informed his partner that the wagon was new and belonged to him.

When his partner inquired what Helmer intended to do with the wagon, he explained that he was planning on using it to take Credelia to visit her mother. He then left before he was asked any further questions.

Upon his return, Helmer gave the news of the retrieved wagon to Renée. She quickly finished up her snack and went up to the attic to inform her Brent and Link.

"Great," Brent had said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms behind his head. "Now all we have to do is wait for those soldiers to leave." He closed his eyes, and whether or not he was planning their next few steps once they departed Varron, Renée was unsure of. "Let us know when we can leave."

"This sure has been a long delay," Link said once Renée had shut the attic door. Brent exhaled deeply.

"It sure has," he said after a while. "And it's a hassle. I'd personally like to leave whether the soldiers were there or not, but..." He closed his eyes again. "If we did that I'd suppose we'd end up fighting our way out and end up in a bigger problem..." He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "Wonder how the other Resistance members are getting on without me."

"You left someone in charge, right?" Link asked.

" 'Course: Lemm. He can be downright annoying and arrogant, but he's pretty reliable. Dunno who I would've put in charge if he weren't there."

"It sounds like you've a lot of trust in him."

"Yeah..." Brent's voice sounded distant, as though his mind's thoughts were wandering elsewhere. "Now that I think about it, I owe him a lot..."

* * *

The fourth day of their stay, the Thrall Cell soldiers were supposedly nowhere to be found.

Link and his company remained in Credelia's home for the morning, and when noon came they began to think about the possible reasons for the soldiers being gone—yet none of them seemed probable.

As soon as the news of the Thrall Cell soldiers' sudden disappearance was reported to Brent, he jumped to the thought of leaving Varron as soon as possible. However he only succeeded in engaging in another debate with his traveling companions.

Waiting just at least one more day would seem smart, Renée suggested pointedly. She preferred to not take any chances—the last time Link and Brent had been exposed, Thrall Cell soldiers had erupted from the crowds from seemingly out of nowhere. If they left so soon, the same could happen during their departure, she argued.

Link, in short, agreed. He was not keen on the idea of running from soldiers like he had nearly half a week ago, nor was he fond of the possibility of fighting another soldier again. The majority ruling, Brent was forced to comply.

As the day wore on however, Brent started to grow restless. He repeatedly glanced out the attic's wooden-bar window, hoping that the sun was setting, and could not stay in one spot for longer than a minute. His expression showed more than frustration and impatience—somewhere there was a hint of worry and panic.

Link did not inquire why, but he did wonder if Brent was unused to staying in confined places for so long.

Below him, Renée and Credelia could hear Brent's feet pacing the attic floor. Credelia stared up at the ceiling worriedly and blinked when a heavy thump was heard from above, followed by bits of wood falling from the ceiling and a curse from Brent.

"He's fine," Renée assured her. "He's just...antsy..." Yet she two gazed into space with a distant and worried expression.

_ Probably because of _that_..._

The two stood in the silence of Credelia's room until Helmer's voice cut through, calling to his daughter. Credelia shook away her thoughts and excused herself.

In the hall, she looked up to the closed attic door and sighed heavily. She then went downstairs and found her father waiting for her at the table, a deep frown etched upon his face.

As his daughter approached the frown did not soften, giving Credelia the feeling that she had done something wrong. She took a seat hesitantly at the dinner table and attempted to make eye contact with her father—yet his face was so intimidating that she averted her gaze and instead looked upon the empty fireplace.

She flinched and inhaled sharply when her father moved to take his seat across from her, but still stared at the hearth.

"Credelia." His voice was so much gentler than his expression. She looked up at her father and shrunk back. "They can't stay here."

"Wh—?" Before Credelia could finish her sentence, her father interrupted.

"The other day when I went to the stables I saw some more Thrall Cell soldiers—I'm guessing it was the leader of their squadron and a few others." Credelia waited when her father paused. "But when I had gone to retrieve the wagon, I overheard that they had made contact with the Governess. She had told them to...leave the Hylians 'as they were'."

Credelia blinked and cocked her head to the side. "Leave them alone...? The Governess said that?"

"Apparently." Helmer scratched his stubble chin. "But her soldiers are clearly not following orders. They can't stay here."

"But we can't just kick them out into the street," Credelia protested, lowering her voice when she heard someone descend from the attic. "_What if they got caught_?"

"It wouldn't be our problem then," Helmer whispered back. His face finally softened when his daughter looked upon him with sadness. "I'm just trying to keep you safe," he continued, reaching out and putting a hand on hers. "I wouldn't want to end up losing you..."

Credelia withdrew her hand and placed it in her lap. "...I understand."

"Good." Helmer stood up. "I'll speak to them tomorrow."

"N-no." Credelia too stood up. "I'll go tell them now—" She started for the stairs.

"Not them," Helmer said, realizing what she meant. "The soldiers."

Credelia's hand gripped the rail of the staircase and she angled her head to see her father's face clearly, her eyes wide with fear.

He looked troubled now.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

When Credelia returned upstairs, the attic door was closing. She tried to catch a glimpse of who was going up, however the door shut before she could. She entered her bedroom to find Renée laying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She looked down when Credelia entered, but did not say anything immediately.

"We're leaving tomorrow night," she said once Credelia had shut the door. "Sorry to have troubled you guys these past few days." Credelia shook her head.

"Your company was fine," she said, smiling. "Please, don't worry about it."

"I see..." Renée was silent for a moment. "But...thank you for helping us, in any case." Credelia smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad that I could help." But her smile faded when she looked away.

* * *

The sky was gray the next morning, as it had been the day that Link and his allies had arrived. It wasn't until a few hours into the early morning did the clouds compress, and a light rain fell to the ground. As Link slept, he rolled on to his side and his nose pressed against the wooden beams in the wall. He scrunched up his face in his slumber and moaned, and turned to his other side.

Above him, a droplet of water clung to a splinter in the wood. It held the edge of this small bit of material for another few seconds, then slipped and fell on Link's cheek, stinging his face with its sudden coolness.

But Link didn't wake up—and it was not until three water drops later did he force himself to come out of his dreaming. And what a strange dream it had been: Link was positive that Telma and her company were locked in the Thrall Cell, not throwing a party without him at her bar with the Princess singing and Mayor Bo being the best dancer there.

Link rolled over onto his stomach, and then turned his head so that his cheek rested upon his pillow. Another drop of water fell, this time sliding down his neck. His hand reacted to the touch and he rubbed the water off his neck quickly then slid out of the way of more leaks.

Link lay in his position for a long moment, staring blankly at the pile of keepsakes that Brent had been fumbling through nights before. His mind wandered through his floating thoughts until he came upon the memory that they would finally be departing Varron that very night. Yet there was no reason to get excited—all of his things were with him, and he was not leaving the attic until their departure time.

A door creaked open below.

Link's ears directed their hearing to the floor beneath him, part of him hoping that it was Credelia or Renée waking to retrieve some breakfast for him and Brent. He listened closely to the sound of the footsteps pressing lightly on the floorboards, and quickly confirmed that it was not either of the girls, but it was Credelia's father, Helmer.

Although Link knew no reason to be, he did feel curious as to why the man was up so early. The middle to late morning, or even noon, was usually when Helmer headed for his job at the stables, was it not? Or had Link lost track of time already?

He sat up and looked out the wooden-bar window on the far end of the attic, careful to tread quietly so as to not wake up his blue-haired comrade behind him. Link peered through the openings in the window and gazed down to the city streets. There was a small amount of people milling about the village and Link presumed there to be more walking around as the day wore on.

The click of a door shutting caught his attention, and Link's blue eyes fell down, down to where the front door of the house was. Though it was not visible from his perspective, he knew he was looking in the right area when he saw Helmer exit the home.

He raised his eyebrows when he saw Helmer look around, as though looking for watching eyes then put his hood over his head. He then walked forward, his head down and his hands in his pockets, towards the left side of the road.

"So he left."

Link whipped around, startled by Brent's voice. "You...were awake?"

"I couldn't sleep last night," he said. It was then Link noticed the shadows under Brent's eyes. "Can't wait 'till we leave."

"Just now..." Link turned to face him fully. "You sounded like you knew that Helmer would leave."

"Last night, when I told Renée that we agreed on leaving tonight, I overheard a little of Helmer and Credelia talking," Brent started. "It seems Helmer's going to go and talk to the Thrall Cell soldiers about something. But what? It beats me. I was pretty sure they all left." He closed his fingers around the bridge of his nose and held back a sneeze.

"Whatever it was, he didn't look very excited to do it," Link said under his breath, glancing back out the small window.

Again, a door downstairs opened and this time the footsteps were recognized as Credelia's. Not too much later, Renée also exited the bedroom, and then Credelia brought up a meal for the two men. It was not a large breakfast, but it did fill the two up nicely.

While she delivered her meal, she suggested that Link and Brent come down from the attic. It was humid and the ceiling would leak when it rained—Renée encouraged the idea, saying that the present rainstorm was more than likely the one from the storm that she and her Hylian friends had been outrunning.

"And if it took this long to reach here, it's probably a big and long one," she added as Link and Brent descended to the second floor. "Besides, those soldiers are gone. I'm pretty sure they won't be searching houses anytime soon."

Throughout the rest of the morning, Link, Brent and Renée gathered the things they believed necessary for the next day and a half of their travel. Most, if not all, of the food that Renée had bought the day that they had arrived had been eaten over the week, and so she went back out to purchase more.

For the entire time that she was out, Helmer did not return. In mid-afternoon, when Credelia went to retrieve the wagon, he still did not arrive home. It was not until around two hours later did he show his face.

None of the guests in his home inquired as to where he had been, and Helmer did not bother to tell them. But what was noticed clearly was his panicky and stressed expression. He was rather jumpy throughout the rest of the day, in fact—when his daughter asked if he was all right, he quickly responded with a nod and shuffled out of the room. Helmer later released all possible frustration out on Brent when the blue-haired Hylian had inquired how the day at the stable had gone.

Not only Brent but Link and Renée were startled by Helmer's reaction. He yelled that his day had gone well and that he couldn't wait for the three to finally leave he and his daughter in peace—he had even scowled at the three, as though his look could make them disappear on the spot. Yet no matter how much they wanted to leave with one look from Helmer, the three knew that they had to stay until that night.

In a last act of anger, Helmer ordered for Brent and Link to return to the attic. And so the two respectfully obeyed.

At dinnertime, Credelia brought them their meals, which were larger in comparison to their previous ones.

"Think of it as...a farewell gift," she said slowly, not making eye contact with either of them so as to avoid looking at their scowls. "After tonight, please, take care on your journey." On the first floor, Credelia reported to Renée the way that the men had looked.

"Their faces can get stuck like that, I guess," was Renée's answer. "Maybe it's a guy thing." The two then exchanged looks before glancing at Helmer.

The father was quiet that evening—quieter than the rest of the nights that Renée and Credelia had eaten with him. Renée and Credelia ate in silence, be it ever so awkwardly, unsure of how to start a conversation to liven up the mealtime.

In the end, they settled on a silent dinner and the only forms of communication were simple things like: "Please pass this" and "please pass that". Anytime that Helmer was asked to pass something or would request something given to him, his movements and speech would be slow, as though he were in a dream.

In the attic, conversation was no more frequent. As always, Link and Brent did not sit near each other, but instead sat near their sleeping areas, lost in their own thoughts. Link's mind wandered around the reason that he had arrived in Arkania as well as whether or not he should inquire the Governess of the Triforce Shards. Brent was worried about speaking with the Governess in person.

She was the ruler of the country that he lived in, and completely overlooked the fact that Hylians were persecuted and disrespected in any and all cities and towns. It was hard to believe that he had once known her—and when he had known her, and been close enough to her to be able to speak to her at any given time, he would have never guessed that she would not care about Hylians, his race, in the future.

And as a representative of the oppressed people, Brent was going to take a stand against the racism. But what he found odd was that somewhere within him was a hint of doubt. What would he do if he was not given the chance to return to his comrades and either follow through with or cancel the plan to raid the Thrall Cell?

He shook the thought away. He had left Lemm in charge—the man could most likely figure that if the true leader of the southeastern Hylian Rights Group did not return, they should go along with the Thrall Cell raid. Brent felt his small amount of doubt wither away slightly. He could count on Lemm. Just like all the other times.

Link's plate clattering to the ground drew Brent back to reality. The foreigner was frozen still, as though paralyzed. Brent barely got to ask if he was all right before Link turned slightly, his eyes shut and his brow furrowed.

"Listen," he said quietly. His eyes opened and he looked to Brent out of the corner of his eye. "Do you hear that?"

Brent hushed his breathing and listened closely.

_Ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk..._

Helmer's fork clanked annoyingly against his plate when he placed it down. "Well that was a good meal," he said after a long silence, sitting back in his chair. "Did you all enjoy it?"

Credelia swallowed before replying: "I always like your cooking, Dad." Helmer smiled.

"And you, Renée?" Renée, previously distracted by a loud movement from the attic, turned to Helmer, partly surprised at his sudden friendliness.

"Oh, yeah, it was delicious," she said, smiling. "Thank you—from all of us."

Brent scooped up his Bo staff and Link his sword and shield. Their dishes lay forsaken upon the floor and Brent looked out the bar window.

His eyes adjusted to the misty scene outside, and his ears divided the sounds of the rain from the sound that he had dreaded to hear. Through the curtains of precipitation, Brent managed to see bright orange dots bouncing down the street.

"What do you see?" Link asked, securing his shield upon his back and grabbing his cloak.

"Torches," Brent answered, continuing to search for anything else. The sound of the armor of soldiers was closer than before now, and Brent could now see their silhouettes. "And Thrall Cell soldiers."

There were around six or seven of them, and the one in the middle stepped forward. His blonde hair was plastered to his skin, and his green eyes glared up at the shingled home. His face twisted into a sneer.

Brent quickly removed his face from the window.

"What's that?" Credelia peeked out the window and her eyes widened when she saw the soldiers. She looked to her father. "Dad—!"

"Residents of the Kreed home!" announced the blonde soldier in the middle, the Commander that Helmer had met a few days earlier. "It has come to our attention that there are Hylians hidden inside. Whether you knew of their whereabouts or not, we do not care—simply deliver those foul beasts to us and you shall not be harmed!"

Credelia stepped away from the window, her hands pressed against her chest.

_"I'll speak to them tomorrow."_

He couldn't have meant...

Credelia squealed and leaped back when another soldier stepped towards the door and pounded his fist heavily upon it. "We know that you're in there! Answer now or face the consequences!"

Renée shook off her blanket of astonishment and rounded on Helmer. "Helmer—" Her voice was cut short by the sight of Brent and Link descending the staircase. She turned to them. "What do we—"

"We're leaving." Brent gripped her arm. Renée winced. "_Now._"

"Dad, what did you mean?" Credelia asked, her voice and body trembling. "When you said you would speak to 'them'...you didn't mean...you couldn't have meant..."

Helmer did not reply and the banging on the door continued.

In a state of panic, Credelia fled to the door and pulled the bolt, locking it.

The soldier turned to face the Commander. "They have locked the door, sir!" The Commander held his torch aloft and growled.

"_Burn it!_"

The soldier blinked. "B-but sir...those are...civilians..."

"They're nothing more than traitors," the Commander spat. "They're clearly on the same side as those bloodthirsty Hylians. Let them burn together!" The soldier grit his teeth, then turned back to the door.

"Dad, tell me," Credelia pleaded, her back against the door. "What did you say to them?" Again, Helmer hesitated. "_Dad!_"

"We don't have time for this," Link said, his voice low and stern. "How are we going to get out of here? They're blocking the only exit."

"The...trapdoor..." All eyes turned to Helmer then shot back to the door as the soldier pounded upon it once more. Credelia yelped as the force shook through her back and she stepped away from the entrance.

"There's a trapdoor?" Renée inquired, shrugging Brent's hand off her and taking an advancing step towards Helmer. "Where is it?"

The pounding on the door grew heavier and Credelia looked back to it worriedly, sure that the soldiers were prepared to knock it, or perhaps the entire wall, down. Helmer held up a finger and slowly, almost reluctantly, pointed it towards the fireplace.

"Right in front of the hearth," he said. "It's a dark tunnel and leads out into the back of the tavern, which is only three houses down from here. You can...you can get to your wagon afterwards if you head straight down the road that the pub's front faces."

Link, Brent and Renée looked at each other and nodded. A head-pounding thud came from the door.

"Give us the Hylians!" came the soldier's voice again. "Or we'll burn this house to the ground!"

Link headed towards the fireplace and moved his hands across the floorboards. His eyes spotted a square-shaped board and he removed it; underneath was a circular and rusted handle. Link gripped the handle and tugged—the handle refused to move.

Link tried again, this time applying more strength and the trapdoor swung open, nearly bashing Link in the forehead as it did. Link peeked down, unable to see anything for the tunnel was indeed dark. He turned to his allies and called for them to hurry.

"No, wait, please!" Helmer reached out and grasped Renée's shoulder. "Please...! I don't...I don't want Credelia to have to suffer for my stupid actions."

Renée pursed her brow.

"I went to the Thrall Cell soldiers and told them that I thought that I had some Hylians stowing away in my home," Helmer confessed miserably. "I told them that I had gone to the backside of my house to check and saw pointy ears. They told me that they would pay me for handing you three over and that they would spare my daughter's life and mine. And now here they are, believing that we're helping you, and they're threatening to murder me and my daughter!"

"Hey, pops." Helmer looked at Brent. "You're not trying to plead your way into escaping with us, are you?" His light brown eyes narrowed with his last two words.

Helmer swallowed and shook his head. "No...I am pleading you to take my daughter with you! I will stay here and pay for my lies. But Credelia...she doesn't deserve this. Please, take her with you!"

"It's strange how you went from hating us to begging us to help you." There was another bang on the door followed by the shout: "_This is your last warning!_" Brent scowled at the door then returned his gaze to Helmer.

"Dad, I can't leave you," Credelia said, stepping towards him. "I won't! I can't let them take you!" Her eyes were slowly filling with tears and her voice became less and less audible. "I can't...I can't..."

"You have to," he said to her softly, cupping his face in her hands. "I don't want you to die because of my selfish choice. Not with your whole life ahead of you."

"But Dad..." Credelia's voice fell to a hoarse whisper and she dropped her gaze, her tears blurring her vision.

"Well then, we're leaving," Brent said. "Thank your dad for his sudden awakening conscience."

"No—Dad!" Feeling a sudden and abnormal heat, Credelia looked to the window but could not see the street; orange and yellow flames licked at the windowpane.

"_Go!_" Helmer said in a demanding voice, shoving his daughter into Renée. Credelia shifted and nearly leaped towards her father but Renée held her firm. Credelia screamed and squirmed in Renée's surprisingly strong grip, tears spilling from her eyes.

Renée switched her hold on the girl and held her around her waist. Link slipped down into the tunnel first—Brent took Credelia and hopped down next, then Renée skipped in after them, leaving Helmer to the hungry flames.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Link made his way through the darkness of the underground tunnel, keeping his hands out in front of him to feel for any sudden walls. He could feel Brent and Renée behind him, as well as clearly hear Credelia's wails and screams for her father.

"Make her be quiet, will you?" Link said exasperatedly, turning a corner. "She might call attention!"

"Tch." Brent clasped his hand over Credelia's mouth, sealing away her cries as well as nearly suffocating her. The group jogged down the narrow tunnel for a long while, turning invisible corners and ducking beneath low archways until finally Link's feet crashed, left foot then right, into an obstacle barely a half a foot high.

Link's body then fell forward next but he quickly caught himself and hopped back. Brent stopped short behind him.

"What's wrong?"

"It's...stairs." Link stepped forward and raised a foot, then planted it down again. As he said, there was a staircase leading upwards and out of the tunnel. Link led everyone up these stairs until he reached a wall.

He felt this barrier for a moment until his hands closed around a doorknob. He twisted the knob and pushed, then stepped out into the dim lighting of the pub's storeroom.

The door they had exited was slightly slanted and stood beneath a second staircase, leading into the tavern. There were shelves of bottles full of wines, ales and beers, as well as a few crates filled with upside down mugs and tankards.

The small group filed into the room and, guessing that Credelia had finally calmed down, Brent placed the girl upon her feet. She did not move, nor show any sign of awareness as the others looked throughout the room.

"So this is the pub's storeroom," Link muttered. "Why would their house lead to some place like this?"

"Who knows? But somehow we have to get out of here," Renée said, shutting the door behind her, "by the front entrance, without you two being spotted as Hylians."

"Right," Link agreed. The Thrall Cell soldiers were still outside, and voices could be heard from the tavern above. He scanned the room quickly, then spotted a heap of some sort of cloth laying on top of a box off in the corner.

He approached it and lifted the clothing off the crate, finding himself holding a vest. He sifted through the rest of the clothing and spotted a brown bandanna laying atop a high-collared shirt. He turned at the sound of Renée's footsteps drawing near.

"Clothes?" she wondered aloud, eying the outfit that Link was standing before. "And a bandanna...that could cover your ears." She picked it up, then took up the shirt. "It seems clean enough...you should change into it. It could throw off anyone who may have seen you a few days ago."

Link nodded and took the clothing, then walked into a far corner of the storeroom. He reappeared moments later, his old and worn green tunic getting tucked into his pouch and his new shirt and vest on.

"It suits you nicely," Renée mused as Link tied the bandanna around his head, concealing his Hylian ears. "As for Brent, what should we do with him..."

"I'll stick with my cloak," Brent said. When Renée looked to him, she found that he was already wearing his hood. "Now we can't dawdle any longer—let's go." He went up the stairs to the tavern first, and the rest of the group followed after.

The pub was lit with few lanterns, but it was just enough to see everything inside. However, most of the inhabitants of the building were gathered around the window, exchanging glances and shouting to one another.

"Fire!"

"It could spread—"

"Isn't that the Kreeds' home?"

Using this to their advantage, Link, Brent, Renée and Credelia crept their way around the crowd of people and quietly opened the door. They were met with a rush of cold wind and rain and, to avoid sudden attention, Link shut the door immediately behind them.

The rain was pouring down on them heavily, and the four were quickly soaked as they rushed down the road that the pub faced, just as Helmer had directed them. On their left, smoke could be seen rising into the sky and faint orange and yellow lights danced and flickered in their reflections that showed on the shining wet roads.

Credelia quickly shifted her weight in the direction of her home, however her feet slipped from beneath her and she fell to the ground.

Link was the first to notice and he skidded to a halt and scooped Credelia up. She coughed and sputtered while the rain fussed over washing her face clean.

Without a word Link took Credelia's wrist and pulled her alongside him to catch up with the other two members of their group. They all ran a straight path, and soon the stables came into view. At this point, Credelia showed a small sign of happiness when she saw the familiar area, but her face fell when she saw that no one was there.

Brent splashed through forming puddles of mud and water, making his way towards their horses. They were not strapped to the wagon, as he had predicted, but instead were each located in their own stall. They neighed in greeting when he approached. Brent searched for a way to open up the stall, feeling frustration build within him when he saw that they were both locked. Renée dashed to his side when she saw him raise his rod.

She was about to call out, but stopped herself when she saw that Brent was not going to strike down the horses, but had merely broken the lock that held them in their small space. She followed his example and drew her sword, stepped up to their second horse's stall and cut down its lock as well. She swung the door open and stepped inside, then busied herself with re-equipping the horse's reins and saddle.

Once the two horses were saddled and attached to the wagon, Renée once again sat in the front seat, while Link, Brent and Credelia climbed into the wagon bed.

"Yah!"

The horses directed their path towards the exit of the stables, then trotted down the cobblestoned road. Once they were clear of the stables, Renée slapped the horses again and they broke into the fastest gallop they could with a wagon attached to their backs.

To avoid going down the road that would lead pass Credelia's home on its way to the entrance, Renée instead went around another way that lead them out into the fields by Varron's northwestern entrance. The wagon wobbled and trembled down the bumpy road, and none dared to turn their heads back to Varron except for Credelia.

She stared glumly down the muddy path, no longer shedding any tears. Her face was red and tear-stained and her vision slightly blurry. She rubbed her eyes and continued to look down the path, this time seeing something she did not expect to see.

Credelia leaned over slightly, peering through the heavy rain, then her eyes widened in astonishment when she gasped. "It's—"

Brent and Link, hearing Credelia's sudden inhale of breath, turned to see what she was looking at.

"The...the soldiers!" Credelia whipped around in the bed, her wet hair wrapping itself around her cheek and neck. "The soldiers, Renée! They're coming!"

"What?!" Renée turned her back on the road before her to see, and to her bewilderment there was in fact a small group of Thrall Cell soldiers riding on horseback in hot pursuit of them. "But how did they—"

"They probably looked into the house when it burnt and found the trapdoor," Link guessed. "It was left open, wasn't it?"

"Then that was probably my fau—aah!" Renée cut off when the wagon suddenly stopped short and its back end seemed to sink into the ground. "What the...?!"

The wagon's left back wheel was dug into the mud, and was steadily sinking. The small hole that was being formed by the wagon's back wheel stretched to consume the second rear wheel, and soon half of the wagon's end was falling.

The horses whinnied and kicked off their front legs for a moment in an attempt to gain some momentum, however the idea backfired and the wagon fell backwards even further. Renée yelled and slipped out of her seat, tumbling into the wagon bed.

Brent caught her before she fell into the slowly widening gap below them. He then looked up and his mind throttled itself into thinking of a plan when he saw that the Thrall Cell soldiers were quickly gaining on them.

"We might have to leave the wagon!" he shouted when he was able to see what the officers on the horses looked like.

"But if we did that we'd end up fighting!" Renée protested, crawling back to the front seat. "Isn't there another way?"

"Well, do you have any ideas?" Brent asked impatiently. All their voices then called out a synchronizing "Ah!" as the horses attempted to pull the wagon forward and the wagon jolted abruptly.

The horses snorted and pulled once more, this time managing to pull the wagon out of the hole just before the ground fell into it, leaving a gaping black abyss in the middle of the path. The horses then sprinted forward and Renée scrambled to the front seat to grip the reins.

Behind them, the ground continued to fall into the hole and began to spread in the direction of the Thrall Cell soldiers as they drew near it. Before the officers could realize what the black shadow that was approaching them was, three of them and their horses had fallen into its depths. The rest of the soldiers fell back, and their Commander scowled at the shrinking image of the wagon.

"Commander!" One of the soldiers took the liberty to approach and inquire of further orders.

"They'll be charged with kidnapping," the Commander returned, turning his horse around. "And we'll find them...soon enough."


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

The rain crashed against the cover of the wagon in waves of water. Credelia was curled up in the middle of the wagon, her head bowed and her body still but for its small trembling when the wagon rolled over bumps in the road.

Varron had been left in their wake only a few hours earlier, and the rain had grown heavier since then. Renée also kept a sharp eye out for any more sudden Holes in the ground, and constantly steered around a spot in the dirt that looked a bit suspicious to her. It wasn't until she finally grew tired of this did she suggest that they stopped to rest somewhere.

"I guess," Brent replied slowly.

"We should," Link called back over the stormy weather. "We've left the soldiers far behind us anyway." That decision made, the group kept their eyes peeled for any sign of a cave or form of shelter from the ferocious rain.

Fortunately their search was not a long one—their wagon was traveling by a tall mountain, one that Brent recognized as Mount Verespia. Due to its location being on the way to that of another Hylian Rights Group, Brent had stopped to rest in one of this mountain's many caves multiple times.

He directed Renée through the rain to a natural roadway that lead up the side of the mountain. Once they reached the top of this ramp he pointed out the couple holes in Verespia's sides, and after peering through the heavy rain, the holes were identified as entrances to caves.

Renée steered the horses into the nearest cave entrance. When the entire wagon had been engulfed by the darkness that was of the cavern, Renée tugged on the reins lightly, bringing the horses to a halt. She then dismounted her seat and began to detach the animals from their harnesses, her fingers fumbling about the buckles in their numbness.

Credelia was the first to hop out of the wagon bed almost as soon as it stopped and, with her head down, darted for the cave entrance. Brent's arm shot out instantly, catching the young woman across the stomach.

"Let me go!" Her demand came across hoarse and her voice cracked midway through. "I said _let go_!"

"You plan on running through all that?" Brent asked evenly as Credelia struggled to push his arm away. "I doubt you'll even make it halfway." The girl trembled in his arms as a sob wracked through her body.

"Dad was right..." Understanding that her planned escapes would merely be futile, she backed away from him. "I should have never helped you!" Her voice trembled and failed her with her last few words, and she bowed her head. "If I hadn't...he would still be here..." Tears stung at her eyes, and she let them run down her cheeks. "If you stupid Hylians didn't exist, he would still be here!" she shrieked. "Dad would still...he would still..."

Renée tossed a saddle into a corner of the cave, creating a heavy thunk that echoed throughout the cavern. Credelia jumped at the sound and choked on another sob.

"Don't put the blame on them." Credelia turned to face Renée, whose face was stern and scowling with disapproval. "You didn't have to help us. Your father didn't have to tell the Thrall Cell soldiers about us. The Thrall Cell soldiers didn't have to burn your house down." Renée slipped the second horse out of his saddle. "You can't make decisions then blame someone else for the poor outcome."

Credelia bowed her head and sniffed, the tears still pouring down.

"We'll wait out the storm here," Brent said after a few moments had passed. "Then we'll head straight for Revale and we should make it there around midday or later."

"Do we meet with her as soon as we get there, or wait until the next day?" Link asked quietly.

"As soon as we get there," Brent answered, glancing down to the hunched figure of Credelia. He then corrected himself: "No, as soon as we can. We've lost enough time already."

"Well if we're staying the night here, we might as well make it comfortable," Renée declared, putting her hands on her hips and surveying their shelter. "You can start a fire with rocks, right?"

"Yeah, and that makes sparks which then need to touch something flammable," Brent said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Renée rubbed her forehead. "Not now, Brent," she sighed. "We just need something flammable then."

"If we can buy some arrows in Revale to replace these later, we could just use this," Link offered, holding up his lantern and a bundle of arrows. Both Brent and Renée stared at him in confusion, wondering where he had obtained the items. Nevertheless, they took them.

Not too much time had passed before the small group had settled before a warm fire and filled their stomachs with the food that had been prepared.

As soon as she had finished her meal, Credelia returned to the wagon and laid herself upon its bed, curling herself up to keep warm. The tears were dry upon her cheeks and eyelashes, promising to grant her a dry face when she awoke in the morning. Her sleep was wrought with nightmares and dreams all mixed together, and she repeatedly whimpered in her sleep when she saw the image of her father's face.

At the diminishing fire, Renée too was falling fast asleep. It wasn't until her head fell upon Link's shoulder did she apologize hurriedly and leave the circle, turning in for the night.

Once she was gone, Brent prodded the edges of the fire with his foot, then stopped when sparks sprayed out, a few being launched into the side of his arm. He barely flinched, barely registered the drowsiness he felt as he gazed into the depths of the flames—barely noticed that his head was drooping and his eyes were closing with exhaustion.

Two seconds after his eyes had shut, or perhaps even sooner, Link's calling him grabbed his attention. He managed a slurred and drowsy "Yeah", forcing his senses to be alert.

"How do you think the soldiers found out about our escape?" Brent having yawned loudly, he did not hear the first part of the question, thus asked Link to repeat it.

"Oh...I dunno." He scratched his head. "Maybe they saw us leaving in the wagon or somethin'."

"Huh..." Link did not say anything for a while, then shared his theory: "I was thinking: maybe they broke in while the house was burning, then found the trapdoor. The house was still burning when we left, wasn't it? And then they found us only a few minutes after." Brent considered this. "I'm pretty sure that if they had really planned on burning the house completely, it wouldn't have burned that quickly."

"But if they did that, wouldn't that mean that they found Helmer as well?" Link nodded. "So then..."

"If I'm right, we may be able to save him," Link continued Brent's thought, "either through the negotiation or by following through with the raid."

"Right." Brent yawned again, stood, and then stretched. "I'm callin' it a day." He left the warmth of the fire and found a smooth rock to lean against further in the back of the cave. The last thing he saw before his eyes shut was the shifting silhouette of Link by the fire and the rain still pouring outside the cave.

* * *

A thick fog had rooted itself in the fields the next morning and the heavy rain had reduced to a small unnoticeable drizzle. The fire that the group had made was now burnt ashes, but small twigs and bits of arrows were still visible in it.

The first to open their eyes was Credelia. She wiped away the crusted tears upon her face and sat up in the bed, curling herself into a ball again.

She had never felt so exhausted after a full night of sleep. Her eyelids still felt heavy, and no matter how much she wanted to return to sleeping, she knew that she would merely be kept awake by the unending nightmares that had kept her mind alert throughout the night.

She rested her head on her knees and leaned her back against the side of the wagon closest to the wall, not wanting the others to see the silhouette of her wary figure. She remained in that position for a long while, and her muscles began to cramp. She ignored the numbness of her body and stayed in her pose, then nearly leaped out of her skin when she spotted someone by the edge of the wagon: it was Renée.

Credelia relaxed just a little, glad that it was not one of the Hylians that had come to the wagon. Renée opened a compartment in the bottom of the wagon bed and reached inside. A loud clanking and clinging sounded from the wagon's item storage as Renée's hands moved through it, grasping the necessary items to make breakfast.

When she closed the compartment her eyes flew up, almost as though she had just taken notice of Credelia being there. Credelia averted her eyes and stared at her bare toes, Renée's words from the night before suddenly sounding in her ears.

"Credelia, we're headed to Revale." Credelia still did not look up, but turned her head slightly towards Renée, not enough to see her, but to show that she was listening. "Our business there could put you in danger. Is there any place you know that we could drop you off at?"

Credelia made a small humming sound as she thought of any locations on the way to Revale that she could stay then raised her head to speak.

"My mother and my sister live in Revale," she said, still not looking at Renée. "They live in the Commoners District, only a few roads away from the canal."

Renée nodded. "We're going to drop you off there, then. Oh, and if you could help me with breakfast..." Credelia nodded slowly and crawled out of the wagon, stretching her once compressed muscles as she moved.

Once out of the wagon, she took a few of the bowls from Renée and followed her to the location of their fire from the night before. Spotting the sleeping Link only a few feet away from the burnt remains of the fire, Credelia took a couple of retreating steps until she was behind Renée. She placed the items she was carrying beside the wall next to the dead fire, and then retreated to a rock to sit on. Whenever Renée asked her for aid, she would rush to help, then just as fast as she had gone to Renée's side, would return to her seat.

When the scent of the food that Renée was cooking diffused out of the boiling pot, Brent and Link awoke, the latter awakening only a few minutes after the first.

As they stirred, Credelia brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. When she was offered a bowl of stew, she refused despite the grumbling of her stomach. To avoid listening to her innards' complaints, she directed her attention to the conversation that the three were having before her.

"She says she has family in Revale," Renée said once the two men had taken their second helping. She looked to the rejected bowl of soup beside her and the image of Credelia behind her, tired, sad and possibly hungry, came to her mind. Her shoulders slumped. "They live in the Commoners District."

"Commoners District?" Link repeated.

"Yeah," Renée said. "Revale is separated into two sections, and the border of those two sections is marked by a canal. The two sections are the Commoners District and the Nobility District."

"So then that's where the Governess is," Link muttered.

"Right," Brent answered, putting his just empty bowl down. "And what we're basically going to do is drop off Credelia at her family's house, quickly make our way to the canal and once in the Nobility District head straight to..." He glanced to Credelia before continuing. "...Straight to our destination. We've been gone for a bit over a week—and that shouldn't have happened. So our final stop has to be quick."

"And how do you plan on getting in to our 'destination'?" Link asked, looking to Brent out of the corner of his eye.

Brent's gaze shifted to look at the dying embers of the fire and he remained silent for a long moment. He laced his fingers together and leaned over his knees, his lips firmly pressed into a thin line across his face.

He then closed his eyes, his brow furrowing and became so very still that for a moment Link and Renée thought that he had ceased breathing. When he opened his eyes, he finally spoke.

"I..." He sighed. "I don't know yet."

Link exhaled deeply; he had been slightly hoping for another of Brent's interesting plans.

Renée shook her head.

"Then I guess we can just amble on into the Nobility District without a plan and let ourselves get captured and have this trip all go to waste, " she said in an annoyed tone.

"I'm sorry, all right?" Brent said exasperatedly. "Ever since our escape—no, ever since we've arrived in Varron, my mind's been clouded with other things!"

"Like what, Brent?" Renée asked. She shook her head and stared into her lap, then sighed. "I _told_ you that you should stay back home. I could have handled this without your help and—"

"Oh, so now I'm a burden?" Brent interjected, rising to his feet and startling Renée. He glared down to her and behind his unwavering stare Renée could see a hint of pain; a mental wound reopened.

"No, I'm not saying that!" she protested. "It's just that I'm worried: bringing two Hylians into the capital of Arkania, a land full of prejudice against that race? It's almost like I'm asking for you guys to be arrested..."

"Well, don't think of it like that," Brent said, his voice low as he knelt before her. "Link and I came on our own. Right, Link?" Link nodded. "So don't worry about something like that."

Renée dropped her gaze to her lap once again and her shoulders heaved with a sigh. "Got it."

Brent nodded and stood. "All right, break time's over. The quicker we leave here, the better."

As Brent bent over to scoop up his bowl, he felt something lingering on his back. He turned and saw Credelia's eyes locked upon him.

But when he met her gaze her eyes fell back to the ground and she drew her knees closer to her body.

Once the group had cleared up their campsite, they piled back into the wagon and continued their journey. The wagon bumped and trembled over lumps in the road, and a few times they nearly fell into another Hole. Fortunately for them their horses were determined to keep the band of travelers alive: whenever the wheels of the wagon began to sink, Renée slapped the reins and the horses immediately responded by using all of their strength to pull the wagon to safety.

The thick fog that had appeared earlier that morning had still not lifted and it limited the vision of the group. The road before them vanished behind the large cloud of white mist, blocking whatever could possibly be waiting for them up ahead.

The group continued through the dense fog silently, following what little of the road that they could see. Minutes slipped into hours and to their relief midday soon came upon them. Renée proposed a short break, however Brent pushed for them to continue, stating that they could lose no more time.

In the end Renée gave in, knowing that a long argument would only delay them even more. To Brent's satisfaction, and to the delight of the others, they came upon the tall gates of Revale within the next hour.

As they neared the tall doors that marked the border of Revale, Arkania, a blurred and glowing orange light was spotted up ahead. As the wagon got closer, the orange light was identified as a lantern hanging from the head of a tall pole, this pole being held by a soldier.

There were two of them, and each of them was standing on either side of the doors. The one carrying the lantern stepped forward and glared at the approaching wagon between the slits in his helmet.

"Halt! Who goes there?" he called, pounding the butt end of his lance into the ground menacingly.

"Simply a traveler, sir," Renée said, smiling.

"Just one?" the soldier said, holding his lance in a more battle-ready position.

"Y-yes." Renée inwardly scolded herself for allowing her response to come out slightly stuttered. She looked to the guard, hiding her anxiety behind an innocent expression.

"For extra precautions Miss, we'll have to examine your wagon," the soldier said, lowering his weapon.

Renée turned her head slightly and whispered hastily: "_Brent, what do I do_?" Brent opened his mouth to answer but a distant humming rendered him unresponsive.

It was a faint sound, barely audible over the sound of the soldier's armor rubbing together as he approached the wagon. Brent strained his ears to hear and his mind attempted to remind itself where he had heard the sound before. Only a moment later he realized what he was hearing.

But there was no way.

"Link..." Brent looked to the foggy scene that could be seen through the small crack in the wagon's back covering flaps. He glanced to Link out of the corner of his eye. "You hear that?" Link nodded. "But why would a Hover Board..." A sudden yell split the silence in the air, followed by a curse.

"What in the—"

A gray spherical object, barely above the size of a bouncing ball, fell from the heavy fog above. As it fell, a hole in its side opened up, releasing a cloud of pink smoke. It landed at the feet of the approaching soldier, and the pink fumes enveloped him. The only thing that granted witness to his existence was his long wail of anguish.

As the cloud of bright pink swirled together with the familiar white of the fog, a second smoke bomb fell from the pale abyss above, this time landing and rolling before the guard closest by the doors.

Renée covered her nose with her cloak to protect it from the unfamiliar fumes of the pink smoke. She heard Credelia behind her, coughing and choking as the poisonous scent of the fumes entered her lungs.

"Cover your nose," she instructed quietly, turning around and putting Credelia's hand over her own nose. Credelia nodded and held her breath.

"Sleeping gas," Brent muttered. He could feel his own eyelids begin to fall and he struggled to keep them open. "If we don't get out of here soon, we'll..."

"It got louder," Link interrupted, looking out the back flaps of the wagon. "It's getting closer..."

Renée made to inquire but her sentence came out as a dull moan—her being closest to where the smoke bombs had gone off, she was the first to be quickly affected.

The quiet humming that Brent and Link had heard earlier rose to that of a low whir, then a soft wind drafted in through cracks in the wagon's ceiling. Brent and Link both looked up, as well as Credelia—Renée struggled to do the same.

A light thump was heard and the shadow of feet was seen above them, then there was a blur as someone swung in through the back of the wagon and landed in the center of the wagon bed.

His dirty blond hair was brushed back and was slightly frizzy from the mist, and the red headband that wrapped around his forehead was tucked behind his round ears. Upon the lower half of his face was a strange-looking mask that covered his nose and mouth. On either side of the mask was a hole with crisscrossing bars on its innards.

As he lunged towards the front of the wagon, four more masks fell out of his cloak. Link grabbed one for himself, then distributed the rest to the others.

The boy hopped into the front seat of the wagon and stood beside Renée, then pulled his mask off slightly to reveal his mouth. He cupped his hands by his mouth and made a heavy grunting sound that almost sounded like a Bokoblin's cry before attacking. The boy then re-covered his mouth and plopped down beside Renée and took the reins from her.

A mere second later, a call was returned to the boy, this time sounding like a howling Wolfo.

A hidden smile appeared on the boy's face.

He slapped the horses with the reins, and they moved forward slowly, still startled by the earlier ambush. As they approached the gate of Revale, the tall doors opened as if of their own accord.

The gait of the horses changed as the muddy ground changed to that of a cobblestoned road. Once the entire wagon had been pulled into the border of Revale, the large doors shut behind them, closing away the image of the fallen soldiers.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Inside the city borders, the heavy mist was beginning to lift, revealing slightly crowded streets. Houses lined the road that the group was traveling on, mainly average to middle-sized homes made for the small families of the Commoners District.

As the wagon ventured deeper into the city, the street widened until they had reached a square. A fountain was situated in the center of the plaza and pubs and small cafés circled the area. One road led straight ahead, in the direction of the canal, while the other two on the left and right traveled further into the communities.

The boy pulled himself back into the wagon bed and took off his mask, revealing a face that appeared to be no more than fifteen years old. There were also three lines on each of his cheeks, centered in a way that was similar to cat whiskers. He scanned the small group, nodding to each of them, then his eyes rested on Brent.

"Brent, right?" he said, his once grim expression softening. "So, you're the one in charge of the Hylian Rights Group in Sector T."

Brent removed his mask. "That's me."

"It's great to finally meet you," the boy continued, sitting down as the wagon continued down the road when Renée took the reins again. "I've heard about Taranis' Resistance members freeing enslaved Hylians all over their Sector. I'm Carter, from the Hylian Rights Group in Sector S."

"You mean of Sylvonis?" Brent asked, raising his eyebrows. Carter nodded. "That explains the smoke bombs. So then, why are you here?"

Carter's face broke into a small smile. "Well, Lemm sent one of those carrier birds to the Hylian Rights Group that was nearest to Revale," he explained. "Which would be us. He thought that you could use some help and...he was obviously right. If me and my team hadn't showed up, you guys would've been caught for sure."

Brent nodded. "Yeah. I definitely owe you guys one. That Lemm...can't really worry about much with him around."

"Lemm also explained the situation to us," Carter went on, his face falling again. "So you guys are really here to try and break those Hylians out of the Thrall Cell through a negotiation?"

"That's the plan," Renée called from the front of the wagon. "And if that doesn't work..." She fell silent and Carter nodded.

"I understand. You have a back up plan?"

"Of course," Brent answered. "Which reminds me, the other Resistance hideout around here..."

"Onis."

"Right. Should this plan we're going through right now fail, I'm going to send a message to you guys for a certain kind of aid in our plan B." Carter nodded, a smile forming again.

"I'll tell Karim right away," he said. "Er, the leader," he added to Brent's inquisitive look. "I'm sure he'd be glad to help out."

Brent nodded, then recollected the facemasks from the others and held them out to Carter. He shook his head. "You may need them again, later. We're going to follow you guys from above the fog and we'll swing down if you need any more help."

"Oh." Brent lowered his extended hand. "Thanks. For the help, too."

Carter grinned. "No problem." He adjusted his goggles and hopped out the back end of the wagon, his arm wrapped around the Hover Board that was easily hidden behind his ankle-length cloak. The boy joined the flow of movement in the streets and vanished behind a building.

"Think of an idea on how to go on?" Link asked Brent once the wagon had rumbled a little further along. Brent did not reply for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah. I've thought of a way."

* * *

Credelia directed Renée through the streets of the Commoners District, her mind still attempting to return to complete wariness—she had no idea what she had inhaled when the smoke bombs had fallen, yet she knew that it had left her feeling slightly drunk. The words of Brent and the boy who had saved them were mere mumbles and slurred sentences in her mind, and in that moment she had felt an overwhelming amount of panic course through her.

Thankfully enough, the side effects of the poisonous gas was beginning to wear off, allowing Credelia to gain the sense of clear direction to guide Renée to her house.

Her house...

It had been such a long time since she had last seen the other half of her family. For the past month and a half she had been living with her father in his small home in Varron, while her elder sister and mother had been here, in Revale's Commoners District. Credelia let out a sigh to calm her nerves; she was supposed to be visiting her father for at least three months. She could only wonder what her mother and sister would think when she arrived earlier than they had anticipated.

And what would they think if they found out about everything that had happened while she was in Varron? It would not take long for her mother to figure it out, she thought solemnly. Almost nothing slipped by her. And if she did figure out what Credelia had been involved in...

_Should I expose them?_

Credelia slowly looked away from the road, away from the faces of the people who were oblivious to what had happened only a short week ago. The faces that were oblivious to the fact that the wagon they avoided on the road was housing two Hylians and one Helper.

No...two. Credelia could not keep from counting herself as one of the allies of the Hylians, even if she had only helped them for a short while.

And how she regretted it.

"My house is on the left..." Credelia said. "The fourth one."

"Gotcha." Renée nodded to Credelia and counted the houses on the left as they passed by them. The street they were presently on was wide and was lined with houses that were larger than the ones they had ridden by earlier. They could easily be counted amongst the lower ranking Nobles' homes.

Link looked at the houses that they had passed through the wagon's back flaps. He had never guessed that there was another country that had homes and buildings that could match that of Hyrule's. Although, he had lived in that country his whole life and to top that off had barely left Ordona Province—unless it was a quick and short errand that usually only brought him to Castletown's borders.

The houses that the group had passed had large front lawns with a long, bricked walkway that lead up to a small set of stairs before the houses' thresholds. Some of the houses had yards that were bordered by iron fences, while others were open and had small gardens lining their walkways.

Renée pulled up to the fourth house on the left, just as Credelia instructed, then turned to face the inside of the wagon.

"All right, we're here," she said. She smiled, trying to make Credelia feel less intimidated by the gloomy atmosphere. "Got everything?"

Credelia nodded slowly, then moved to crawl out of the wagon.

Both Brent and Link pulled their feet out of the way for her and she slid out the wagon's back end. Once outside, she finger-combed her wavy hair and patted it into place, then smoothed out the creases in her dress.

As she fidgeted with her outfit, Credelia noticed the mud stains and spots of water that were splattered all over her. She sighed, then walked up to the gate of her home.

Her shoulders slumped as she gazed at the arched doorway. Staring at the brass doorknob, she could almost imagine her hand closing around it, and twisting it, and pushing the door open...

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the door to open by just her thinking about it. She could feel the smoothness of the doorknob touch her clammy palms; Credelia squeezed her fists. As the fog began to clear, rays of sunlight shone through the low cloud's openings, dotting her lawn with splotches of a harvest yellow color.

She started when a hand patted her shoulder. Credelia turned slightly to see Renée standing behind her. The corners of her lips twitched with a small smile.

"The door won't open by itself," she said. She reached out and unlocked the gate, then pushed it open and let Credelia walk in first. She stepped in after her and replaced the latch.

Credelia approached her front door slowly, her flat shoes tapping against the even-textured stones of her walkway. She ascended the small staircase, and once at the front door slipped her hand out from beneath her cloak and rapped her knuckles against the door. Then she stood back and waited. She could hear Renée come up beside her, but did not turn to look at her.

Credelia knocked upon the door again and almost as soon as she withdrew her hand the door opened. It opened just a little at first, then was opened wide enough to reveal who had answered the door.

Standing in the doorway was another girl, around a foot, or maybe more, over Credelia. Her hair fell down to barely below her shoulders, and she wore dark pants that stopped midway down the calf, as well as a white blouse. The young woman pushed her glasses up and raised her eyebrows in both surprise and confusion.

"Huh? _Credelia_?"

"Hi...Karen," Credelia said softly, her eyes falling to the floor. She felt ashamed to have the wealthier half of her family see her in such a miserable state. She returned her gaze to her elder sister's and smiled sheepishly. "I'm home."

"Early, too," Karen added, sending a smile along with her comment. She then looked to Renée. "Is this a friend of yours? Someone you met in Varron while visiting Dad?" Renée nodded to her and Karen returned the gesture. She looked back to Credelia. "You're home a month and a half before we expected you," she said, laughing lightly. "Dad got you bored already?"

Credelia bit her lip and she dropped her gaze again, struggling to retain the tears that threatened to flood from her eyes.

Immediately Karen's face fell and she placed a hand on her younger sister's shoulder. "What's wrong, Crede? Why are you crying...?"

"May I come inside, Karen?" Credelia asked, keeping her head down and fighting back the shakiness that entered her tone. She gripped the hem of her dress tightly. "It's sort of chilly in these clothes...not to mention they're sort of wet. That doesn't really help."

"Hey, it's your house too, Crede. You don't have to ask me if you can come in." Karen stepped aside for her younger sister to enter and looked to Renée. "Does your friend want to come in as well?"

"No, that's all right," Renée said, stepping back. "I'm in a rush. I only came to drop her off. I was...err, hired to drop her off. Her father fell ill and he didn't want Credelia to catch it."

"Oh." Karen furrowed her brow. "I didn't know Dad had the money for a 'covered' wagon..." She looked to Credelia, who was partway through the foyer of the household and almost to the stairs directly opposite the front door. "Is that why you came home early, Credelia? Dad got sick?"

Credelia did not turn. "...Yeah. That's right."

Karen's brow furrowed with worry. "Oh, is it serious? Do you know what he caught? How is he? A doctor saw him, right?" Credelia gave no reply, but continued towards the staircase.

Renée clenched her fist by her side, then projected her voice so that Credelia could hear: "Credelia, we'll bring him back to you!" Credelia stopped on the third stair and turned, her eyes wide and shining with oncoming tears. "I promise."

Credelia held Renée's gaze for another moment, then turned around once more and hurried up the steps.

Renée glanced to Karen, then began her return to the wagon.

"Ah, wait!"

Renée halted and turned on her heel to face Karen again. The young woman let her once outstretched hand fall to her side.

"Um, can I ask what your name is?"

Renée hesitated and bit her lip, then decided to trust. "Renée."

"Renée...that's a nice name." Karen smiled and Renée crookedly smiled back. "If there's anything that you need Renée, feel free to stop by anytime. After all, a friend of Credelia's is a friend of mine."

Renée nodded, waved, then turned away and headed back towards the wagon. As she did, she could hear Karen return to questioning her sister about their father's so-called 'sickness'.

* * *

"You're upset." Brent glanced up from the wagon bed to meet Link's stare. "Something wrong?"

"N-no," Brent stammered, dropping his eyes.

"You've been acting a bit different," Link continued. "As we got closer and closer to Revale, you almost seemed...panicked." Brent's eyes shot up to Link again and he quickly looked away. "Were you really sure about coming along?"

"Yeah, I was." Brent stared out the back end of the wagon with a solemn expression.

_But I'm not so sure now..._

"When we meet with the Governess, there's something that I need to ask her," Link said after a short moment of silence. "Something that has to do with my homeland." Brent looked to him out of the corner of his eye. "Something that you and Renée need to keep a secret."

"I...all right." Brent nodded, then looked to the front of the wagon as he heard Renée approaching.

She climbed into the front seat and took a hold of the reins again. She ordered for the horses to start forward again then took their next left and followed the road until it ran into the main street that came from the Commoners Square.

Lanes of grass bordered the road with trees spaced evenly about them. People mainly stayed along the sides of the road, as the middle was reserved for horse carriages and carts. As the wagon that Link and his company were traveling in wobbled along this road, he looked out the front to see two tall, red poles, connected at their heads with a metal bar, growing in size.

The three came closer to the tall poles until they could finally see their foundations. The street that the group was on came to an end and split to the left and the right, marking the end of the Commoners District.

Located between the two red poles was a ramp that lowered behind a cliff. And stationed at either side of the ramp was a Thrall Cell soldier—their sword hilts poking out from beneath their cloaks and their armor glistening in the showing sun.

Renée tugged lightly on the reins and the horses obediently halted. "What now, Brent?" Both she and Link looked to him, waiting for one of his never-failing plans.

Brent closed his eyes for a moment, then looked to her. "Keep driving," he instructed. "And tell them that you've got two amazingly sick elders who need to see Doctor Ennman." Renée blinked, then slowly nodded.

She slapped the reins against the horses for the umpteenth time, and they pulled the wagon closer to the ramp. The two Thrall Cell officers stepped towards each other, blocking their path to the canal.

"Please, let me pass," Renée said.

"For precautions, we will need to check your wagon," the bald soldier stated firmly. He moved to take a step forward but Renée stopped him with a yelp. The bald officer looked at her inquisitively.

"Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly. "But I can't let you do that."

"Oh?" The man stopped in his tracks and looked up to her. "And why is that? Are you hiding something back there?"

"Actually...I am," Renée admitted slowly, her gaze falling to her boots. The officer raised his eyebrows and looked to his partner.

"We've got an honest one here, Brute." The second soldier, presumably Brute, nodded.

"Honest?" Renée repeated, her brow furrowing in mock confusion. "Oh, you think I'm hiding Hylians!" She laughed a bit forcefully and yet felt that it had eased her nerves. "It's my grandparents," she said, her voice lowering. "You see, they're really, _really_ sick, and so I just had to put them in the wagon and bring them to see Doctor Ennman."

"Ennman?" Brute inquired, his eyebrows knitting together with a frown. "He's the doctor at the Prime Minister's Estate."

"I know," Renée said. Behind her, Link shot Brent a look: how would _he _know a doctor from the Governess's Estate? "He's a really good doctor I heard, and my grandparents are so sick that it's just twisted their appearance and screwed with a lot of their bodily functions." She hesitated, realizing what she had just said, then regained her composure. "So, could you guys please let us get onto the ferry? It looks like it's leaving soon..."

The bald soldier exchanged a look with Brute, then looked up to Renée. Then, without a word, he circled around the wagon and tore open the back flap.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One**

As soon as she heard the sound of the wagon's back covering being forced aside, Renée could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears. She lowered her eyes and took steady breaths, hoping that the second soldier in front of her could not see her panic. Her heart was pounding so loudly she was afraid that he, or perhaps the entire street, would be able to hear it.

_We're gonna get caught, _was her first thought.

_ He's gonna see their ears._

_ What do I do?_

_ What _should _I do?_

_ I knew they should have stayed behind!_

_ Don't hurt them..._

_ I wasn't careful enough._

_ I'm sorry, Brent, Link...!_

A low and convincing groan of agony pulled Renée out of her terrified thoughts. She heard the soldier curse and lean out of the wagon, and the groan of pain sounded again, followed by a shaky, old voice: "The doctor... Renée..." Renée blinked as she tried to decipher whose voice it was. No, it couldn't have been...

Link?

"Let 'em pass!" the soldier declared, stepping back from the wagon. Brute remained where he was at the head of the ramp, then gained the sense to step aside, allowing Renée and her wagon access to the ferry below. She nodded to the soldier, then slapped the horses' sides with their reins and they started down the ramp.

"Nice goin', Link," Brent said, taking his hood off as Link did the same. Link nodded.

"No problem."

The ramp's end leveled out over the dark waters of the canal and a long, wooden boarding dock lead from the platform to the deck of the ferry. Further along the platform was a stable for horses and wagons. A man was standing nearby the stables, and looked up as Renée's wagon approached.

He claimed there to be no admittance of horses or wagons upon the ferry, and Renée nodded her understanding. She hopped out of the wagon and proceeded to release the horses from their harnesses. She handed the reins to the man and he led the two steeds to a stall. Renée waited for the man to be out of earshot, then quickly made her way to the back of the wagon. She looked to both Brent and Link and said that it was all right for them to exit.

The two Hylians pulled their hoods over their heads and slipped out of the wagon bed. Renée kept in front of them, and as they crossed the bridge leading to the ferry glanced up to the head of the ramp.

Was it a trick of the lighting on his head, or had the bald soldier been watching them a moment ago?

The three boarded the ferry and found an isolated area to restrict themselves to. Renée faced the inside of the boat, doing her best to discreetly make sure that no one approached them. Brent leaned against the railing and looked ahead to the other side of the Revale Canal.

The fact that they were only a few miles away from the Governess's Estate overwhelmed him. But it did not weigh more than the feeling of familiarity that he had. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the Revale air that he had not inhaled for such a long time...

But he could not reminisce now. He had arrived in Revale for a more important reason.

The ride across the Revale Canal was a short one, taking up only five minutes of the day. Again Renée led the way off the boat. At this platform, rather than a ramp like there was on the other side of the man-made water passage, there was a tall set of stairs.

Renée, Brent and Link ended up in the front of the small crowd that filed up this stone staircase, and once at the top, they pulled off to the side of the road. Both Link and Renée were awed at the sight of the Nobility District of Revale.

The streets were wide, smooth and even, and on the sides of the roads were raised pavements that people walked on. The houses were noticeably larger than the homes that had been seen in the peasants' area, with large and cut, beautiful green lawns. The street that the group was on was so long that they could just barely see where it split further in the distance. A couple was spotted ambling down the sidewalk, and Link noted their expensive-looking clothing.

The woman was wearing a long red dress that covered her feet, and she held it up only a little to prevent from tripping over the hem. Her dress split below her corset to reveal a white skirt, lined with a curly design on its edge. The sleeves were puffed and stretching beneath them were longer, tighter sleeves that reached the woman's elbows. Around her neck she wore a silver chained necklace with a dark silver and circular pendant. In her ears she wore dangling silver earrings.

The woman's partner had his hair slicked back and wore a tailed suit. The collar was folded down and was closed to the very top by clear buttons, each with a short and dark, embroidered line on either side of them. From a chest pocket on the man's right side was a golden chain that was connected to a small hook on the man's left, and a silver button fastened his cuffs.

Link supposed that the clothing that the two wore were similar to that of the elegant clothing that Princess Zelda and her lords and ladies dressed themselves in.

The middle of the streets, like the Commoners District, were reserved for wheeled vehicles only. One of these modes of transportation passed them, and the Hyrulean foreigner and the lowly girl of the traveling band stared at it as it rolled by.

Two strong, white mares whose silvery-gray manes shone radiantly in the bright sun led the carriage. Sitting in front of the coach was a stout man dressed in a dark suit; upon his head he wore a small hat and his face was stiffened by an unimpressed frown.

Dark maroon curtains covered the windows of the coach and the window's frames were lined with a perfectly made trimming of thin, gold lines. The carriage was of a burgundy color, with a hard-plated roof, and when Link looked to its wheels, saw that they were made of metal.

He whistled.

"Wow," Renée breathed.

"Enough staring," Brent declared impatiently. He tugged on the front of his hood to better secure it upon his head. "We've got a job to do, remember?" Both Link and Renée nodded, then stepped onto the sidewalks and started for the Governess' Estate.

Along the way, the two kept their eyes on the sights of the Nobility District. They marveled at the sizes of the houses that were made for the lords and ladies, the dukes and the duchesses, the simply wealthy and the politically involved, and could only imagine the amount of work that servants had to do for them. Renée could only wonder what the daily life of a noble could be like.

Link turned his attention to the landmarks of the district, and ended up seeing a multitude of statues and fountains. One of the houses' walkways had dragon statues on either side, and both of the sculptures were attached to the fence that bordered the family's property. Link had to admit that, in the present environment, he did feel as though he stood out.

Once the group came upon the square, they stopped. Like the Commoners District, the roads split in three different directions, yet Brent claimed that he was sure the road leading straight ahead did not lead to the Estate.

He stood in place for a moment, then looked up and pointed to the road on the far right. Trusting his sense of direction, Link and Renée followed Brent down that road. They traveled along it for a long while, passing stores and open-air restaurants, until they finally came to its end.

Ahead of them was another set of stairs, half as long as the one that led from the ferry, and at its bottom was a bricked road that led to a long, iron fence. Standing on either side of the fence was a heavily armored soldier, each armed with a long spear-lance. Behind the fence, the path went on for a long way until it reached the white doors of the Prime Minister's Estate.

It was the largest building the three had seen so far, with four rows of glass shuttered windows, each with a curtain tied off to their sides. Green plants were situated at the sides of the doors and the walkway wrapped around the mansion in a sharp square. The manor's lawn stretched out widely on all sides, and the fence that the small group approached marked its end. Beyond the fence, the three were able to see the thick wall that bordered all of Revale.

Renée was forced to the back of the group as Link and Brent chose to step towards the gate first. She opened her mouth to object, yet held her tongue and silently followed behind them.

As they neared the soldiers, they looked down to them from beneath their masked faces. They stepped towards one another, blocking the gate from view.

"We need to speak with the Prime Minister," Brent announced, continuing to walk until he was standing in front of the group. The soldiers' first response was a crossing of their weapons.

"Only those with an appointment with the Prime Minister may enter," said the officer on the left.

"Well, we do have an appointment with her," Brent continued, squaring his shoulders. "And it's very urgent."

The soldiers exchanged a look with one another, then looked down to the three. "Where is your letter of recognition?" the soldier on the left went on. When he received no answer, he explained what it was: "When someone is either summoned to, or sets up a meeting with the Governess, she signs a letter—a letter of recognition—and gives it to the one she will be meeting with. If you do have an appointment with the young Governess, then you will show us your letter of recognition."

The second soldier glared down to the three from beneath the shadows of his helmet, his mouth down-turned into such a huge frown that it seemed almost inhuman. His beady eyes looked to Link and he noted how his brown bandanna covered the tips of his ears. He then looked over to Brent, who had not removed his hood since he had arrived, and his hands tightened noticeably around his lance.

Renée noticed the movement and her hand moved slowly for the handle of her sword.

"No letter, no entrance," the right soldier stated firmly. In one of the many windows of the Estate, a curtain blew lightly as someone quickly moved behind it.

Brent closed his eyes and beneath his cloak reached into his pocket. His hand closed over something within, and he pulled it out, keeping it hidden beneath his cloak. His light brown eyes shot up to the clearing blue sky, and he spotted five black dots.

"Then we'll get in..." He moved his cloak aside to reveal his hand and he held his fist out in front of him. In his hand, he held a small pole, no longer than a foot long. "...no matter what!" Brent pressed a button on the pole's side and it extended to the length of his Bo staff.

Brent swung his weapon towards the soldier's ankles: he hit his right, then his left, spreading the man's legs apart. In the next second, Brent had brought his staff up, crashing into the soldier's groin.

The officer moaned and fell to his knees, his hands covering the spot he had been hit and his lance clattered to the ground.

Renée bounded out from behind Link and Brent, drawing her sword as she did. She twirled on her heel and her sword hilt banged into the soldier's unprotected neck, immediately sending him to the ground.

"Let's go!" Brent hopped over the body of his fallen enemy and kicked the gate open. He charged down the walkway, his feet moving as quick as they could take him. Link tore off his cloak in order to draw his sword and shield and he followed after his comrades.

As he ran, Brent brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled loud and long. He looked up to the sky and, as he had hoped, spotted the five black dots making a beeline for them. The Hylian Rights Group of Sylvonis came close enough to be identified, and Brent spotted Carter leading them. The blond boy nodded to him, then ordered for his group to fly in a 'V' above the heads of Brent and the others.

At the head of the walkway, the white doors of the Estate were shoved open and a flood of soldiers charged down the path, lances aimed forward, swords raised, and war cries tearing out of their throats.

Link held his shield in front of him as he prepared to barrel through the miniature army racing for him and his allies. Renée raised her sword; Brent his staff.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

"Miss?" A servant poked her head into the door of the library, her eyes scanning the room for any sign of the girl.

After a short moment of searching, she spotted the young woman standing to the left of the large window that overlooked the walkway of the Estate, with a view that expanded to the closest edges of the Nobility District.

She turned slightly, the light of the outdoors and the darkness of the study casting shadows upon her face. "Yes?"

"Mattatheus wishes to speak with you, Miss."

"Mattatheus?" The girl turned around fully, her dark, mahogany colored hair appearing lighter in the room that received its light only from the outside world. Her eyes were brown, large and curiosity showed in them when she repeated the name of her Advising Monitor. "I wonder what he could want..."

"He says that it is urgent, Miss," the servant explained. "I told him that when you had gone into your study, you didn't want anyone to disturb you, so I requested that he waited down the hall—"

The mistress cut the servant off with a raising of her hand. "Oh, that's it, is it? Tell him that there is nothing to distress over. Tell him that his Prime Minister is well aware of what is going on."

"Yes, Governess." The servant bowed and pulled herself out of the room.

When the door had shut, the prime minister returned to gazing out of the window. Her eyes fell down to the chaos that was occurring on the walkway below her. She searched the crowd and spotted the group of three fighting their way towards her door—fighting their way to see her.

Just as she had foreseen.

_Brent..._

* * *

Link and Renée's swords sang as they connected with the blades of the soldiers. Link's fighting patterns were unpredictable and forceful; he swung his sword with all his strength and beat back more than one soldier at a time.

Renée was every bit Link's opposite in battle, as her powerful strikes came in quick bursts of energy, and her smaller attacks were fast and included constant movement. She thrust her sword out at a soldier and as he sidestepped the blow, she drew close to the ground and slid closer to the officer. Before he could figure out where his opponent had gone to, Renée had sprung up from the ground, the butt of her sword hitting the soldier hard in the jaw.

She followed up her attack with three quick swipes of her sword: in one stroke she had knocked the soldier's helmet off his head. Renée twirled out of his next swing and once at his side, feinted her next attack by driving her sword beside the man's head, cutting off a few strands of hair. He flinched to his side, as Renée predetermined, and as he was slightly off balance, Renée drew her sword back by her left ear, balanced herself on one foot then struck the man's ankle, sending him to the ground.

Renée spun on her heel just in time to avoid another soldier's attack then launched forward like a serpent, her sword slashing at the man's sword hand. His weapon clattered to the floor and he held his bleeding hand and his yell was cut short as Brent's staff whaled him in the neck.

The Resistance members on the Hover Boards stayed a few meters above the group's heads, throwing small objects that were tossed too quick to be identified immediately, nor did anyone have the chance to identify them amongst the ruckus. Though whatever was being dropped caused a flash of light and stunned the officers closest to it, leaving them vulnerable for attack. A chance that either Brent, Link, or Renée would take.

"Carter!" Link turned away from the Hylian Rights member to dodge a soldier's lance, then sent his fist to meet the ambusher's face. "Clear a way to the door!"

"Gotcha!" Carter readjusted his goggles over his eyes and reached into a pouch hanging from his belt. From it he pulled out four large nuts, then raised his arm to throw them. "Everyone cover your eyes!"

Carter swung his arm down and the four brown seeds flew out of his palm and crashed to the ground in an instant illumination, blinding the naked eye and popping all ears with a cracking sound.

Brent lowered his arm and without giving himself a chance to recover charged through the crowd of blinded soldiers. Link and Renée came out of the crowd and joined him.

"Hold them back!" Brent shouted up to the ones above him. He looked away from Carter's nod and rammed his shoulder into the white doors of the Estate, forcing them open.

Renée, Link and Brent's boots touched the smooth marble floor and they staggered to a halt as they surveyed the spacious foyer.

"This way!" Brent ordered, already running towards a set of stairs off to the left of the room.

The blue-haired Hylian led his companions down long halls of the Estate, opening doors in a random, almost knowing pattern, and narrowly avoiding being spotted by reinforcement soldiers.

Throughout their search for the Governess, Link noted how Brent would stop when they were faced with a choice of two different paths, halt for a moment, then pick a way to go, as well as when he skipped a number of doors.

And Link could only wonder: did he know his way around?

But that could not be possible. Brent was a leader of one of the many Hylian Rights Groups scattered throughout the country of Arkania. There was no possible way that he would know his way around the interior of the Governess's Estate.

_Unless he was a servant once..._

Though, judging by how long it must have taken him to form or join the Hylian Rights Group and become a leader, that idea did not seem probable either.

Link suddenly pulled himself to a stop and Brent ceased running ahead of him. They could both hear it: clanking armor.

Oddly, the sound that the two heard was coming from a close distance, and the two perceived at the same time that they had heard the sound too late. Link threw open a random door and pulled Renée inside, and Brent leaped in after them. The door of the room that the three had jumped into was slammed shut just before a group of soldiers rushed down the hallway.

Their breath came out in heavy and greedy gasps for air. Brent pressed a camouflaged button on the side of his staff and it receded to the size of a pole no more than a foot long again. He tucked his weapon into his pocket as Link and Renée sheathed their swords.

Shelves of books were laid out in short rows, each shelf higher than the last as they were situated on a different stair level. A desk was located at the bottom of the carpeted staircase, with stacks of paper laying on it. The only light that streamed into the room came from the large, noticeable window on the opposite side of the study. However, the figure standing beside the window was what caught the attention of the group once she was spotted.

Her small body was silhouetted by the sunlight, causing a shadow to cover her entire front. The only thing that could be seen about her was the robe that she wore over her ankle-length dress and the headband that she wore across her forehead.

The three could tell that she was also staring at them in apprehension; each expecting the other to move or speak first.

Brent clenched his fists beneath his cloak and he fought to control the unfamiliar feeling of mixed emotions coursing through him. But how could he not feel that way?

The girl standing before him was his younger sister after all.

"B..." The Governess brought a hand to her breast and stepped forward, the light catching her face perfectly. Her skin was a light brown color, like that of Renée, and she shared facial features with her elder brother, specifically the nose and the shape of their eyes. "Br..." She gulped. "Brent..."

Brent stepped out of the area that the light of the window could not reach so that she could see him. "How did you know it was me?"

The Governess did not speak for a long moment as she drunk in the appearance of her brother. He was lighter than she, and his hair was still that bright blue color. His face was longer and judging by the way his cloak fell over his body he was fairly built. She stared into his light brown eyes and a warm smile found its way to her face.

"I knew that you were coming," she said, her head tilting to the side a little. A pose that he instantly remembered.

"Right. Your Foresight..."

Link felt a flash of surprise shoot through him.

She had _foreseen_ their coming?

"Who knew..." The Governess took three steps down to him. "Who knew that one day, after more than nine years, you would come to visit? And you even brought Renée with you..." Renée tensed where she stood. "Yes, I remember Renée. Your family used to be very close to mine, but then, last I heard, you had moved to Hartmut."

Renée gave no response, but the soft smile did not leave the Governess's face.

"The only thing is, I do not know why you are here, Brent." The Prime Minister returned her gaze to Brent and her expression fell to one of grimness. "I also wish for you to know that I did not send any Thrall Cell soldiers after you, nor did I inform many that you all were going to break in because I believed that you, Brent..." The Governess regarded him with a suddenly disapproving visage. "I believed that you had a good reason for storming in here like you did."

Brent's face was stoic as he looked to his sister, now the Governess of Arkania, and he did not reply immediately.

"Coming to see you wasn't my idea," he started, ignoring the glint of surprise and sadness appear in his sister's eyes. "In fact, the thought never crossed my mind—not until a friend of mine suggested it. And her reasons for saying that we should come to see you was so that we could try and establish a truce." The Governess raised her eyebrows. "A truce between humans, Hylians, and half-Hylians." He paused, and when the Governess did not open her mouth to speak, he presumed that he was to continue. So he did:

"You Arkanians have been discriminating against us for far too long now. And what's more: you have been discriminating against us for an event that happened more than one hundred years ago. All Hylians, because of the Arkanians' foolish hatred, are treated like dirt: captured, sold, and separated from loved ones, and for what? To work and slave for the people who hate them so much—there's not an Arkanian in this land who has a slave and treats them as an equal.

"The reason that I'm here is to tell you my request. And my request, Governess, is this: that you free the Hylians of Arkania."

The Governess froze, her eyes wide with a shock that she did not feel the need to restrain.

"Hylians are not worthless scum. Hylians are not the selfish, greedy, traitorous '_things_' that you and your high and mighty Arkanians think that they are. They're living beings just like everyone else. And they deserve better treatment than what they get."

Link listened to the conversation before him intently. His eyes were narrowed with sternness and he could see why the Hylian Rights Group members fought so hard for the liberation of the oppressed Hylians all over the country.

Not only were they fighting for liberation, but they were also fighting to clear their race's name. It was a cause worth fighting for, Link admitted, and if he were not presently on a mission he would have gladly joined their forces.

"What of the Isle Massacre?" the Governess said, finally finding her voice. "How do you explain to me that Hylians are not savages when you think of this?"

"That was merely one Hylian," Brent answered. "You can't judge an entire group based on the actions of one."

"No, but one can make a first impression for an entire group."

"Do you really think that all Hylians are like that?" Brent inquired. "Look at me: do you really think that I'm like that?"

The Governess faltered. Her eyes fell to the floor and she stared blankly at the dust particles floating around down there. Brent opened his mouth to speak again, but the Governess cut him off with a raising of her hand. She took a deep breath before she said her next two words.

"I cannot."

Not only Brent appeared surprise, but so did Link and Renée. The Governess looked back to her brother, her eyes shining with guilt, as well as resolution. "I cannot," she repeated, "release the Hylians."

In her brother's eyes she could see the confusion he felt. "And why not?" Something in the way the words came across caused the Governess's heart to lurch with guilt.

"As the Governess, I must look to satisfy the majority of the people." she went on. "Releasing the Hylians and granting them freedom would not be in their interest, and as such there is the chance that I will end up losing my status—" She cut off, feeling a horrid familiarity with the words that she had just said.

"Losing your status, huh?" Brent's voice was full of contempt and his gaze penetrated her.

"No, I..." The Prime Minister sucked in her breath, afraid to say anything more. She had reopened his mental wound, she knew it, and she had not meant to. She struggled to think of something to say, though nothing came to her mind at all. Her heart pounded in panic and her eyes darted around the room as she attempted to look at something, _anything, _other than Brent.

"Just like Dad," Brent went on. Though the Governess was not making eye contact with him, she could still feel his eyes looking to her with anger burning within them. Though, the anger was not directed at her, but rather pointed to the one who had first said those words: _lose my status. _"So his teachings made their way down to you. And all he ever cared about was his status, his social ranking, his stupid _popularity_. If at any time he heard the word 'Hylian' he would just as soon as withdraw as he would kiss the behinds of the nobles of Arkania." The Governess suddenly looked back to him, fury building within her.

"How dare you speak ill of your own father!" she scolded, her rage slowly matching her brother's. "He is _dead_, and yet you still have not released your contempt against him! He was merely trying to do his job as best as he could—" She stopped herself, knowing that she was stretching. "He was trying..."

"By what, kicking me out and leaving me to die?" Brent burst. "Of course, that's the best way to go through with things! As the years went on, Dad didn't care about family anymore. No, he never did care, did he?!"

"He did care!" The Governess's voice cracked as she forced the words out. "He cared so much! When he disowned you, he felt so guilty! But he had to! _He had to!_" Her brother was not convinced at her desperation and pleas. He glared at her, seething on the inside with the pain that he still had not let go of from that night he had been deserted, nine years ago.

It would never go away.

"We would have lost much had he not—" She cut herself off with a choke and hurriedly tried to rephrase her sentence: "Hylians are—! He had to—! The Hylians...!" Tears beaded at her eyes' corners. She shut her eyes tightly and turned away, too ashamed at her choice of words to go on anymore.

"Then let me ask you this one thing." Brent's voice was lower and he masked his earlier, sharp tone with difficulty. His sister still did not look to him but waited for him to continue. "You say that you can't let Hylians roam free, didn't you?" The Governess sniffed and hesitantly nodded. Brent thrust his hands out in front of her, his wrists close together as though invisible shackles bound them.

"Brent!" Renée stepped forward, her hand outstretched. "What are you..." Link remained still, the only thing showing his reaction being the stunned look upon his face.

"Then take me," Brent said strongly.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Aaron raised his hands high above his head. He looked to the two Racers before him: each of them wore goggles, each of them had their hands tightly gripping the handles of their Hover Boards, and each of them stared into the distance, down through the fields that they were soon to be racing through.

Aaron swung his arms down and the two competitors tapped the buttons located on the handles of their Boards. There was a whirring sound, and a faint blue light glowed beneath the Boards' bottoms.

Then the vehicles jetted forward, leaving large clouds of dirt in their wake as they tore over the hills at breakneck speed. Aaron blocked the soil from entering his eyes by covering his face with his arms, and he did not lower them until he was sure that the dust had settled on the ground again.

He turned to face the direction that the two had taken off in. He blew air out of his mouth and ran his hand up the side of his face, then knotted his fingers in his shocking red hair.

He had been assigned to help around the Track, the area where the Resistance members would take their Hover Boards in order to race or test their Boards' speed. The Track was mainly a large, flat and unfertilized patch of land located near the eastern side of Taranis. Benches were built and situated by the edge of the Track and a few spectators were seated there. Aaron made his way to one of the people, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

The boy that Aaron approached was around the age of seventeen or eighteen, with large circular glasses that magnified the size of his eyes to look like dark blue orbs. His dark brown hair was combed back, though a few loose strands hung across his face as he stared down to a mechanism he held in his hands: a speedometer.

Aaron recognized it as he approached and recalled that it was used for measuring the speed of the Hover Boards.

The boy looked up at the sight of Aaron's boots and pushed his glasses up.

"Ah, Aaron," he greeted, smiling.

"Hey." Aaron seated himself beside the young adult and inclined his head to the speedometer in his hands. "Measuring those guys' speed, Harver?"

"They wanted me to," Harver replied. His brow furrowed as he watched the black arrow on the dial swing over to the number three hundred and two. "Since I helped build the Boards they thought that I'd be a good choice for making sure that they were going as fast as they were supposed to."

"So that's why they ran up to me out of nowhere and asked me to referee for them," Aaron murmured. "Was there something wrong with them?"

"Well, not really." Harver adjusted the antenna on the box in his hands so that it pointed to where the Hover Racers were. They were spotted coming over a hill in the distance and the black arrow jumped around between three hundred and three hundred and fifty. "They're just taking extra precautions—just in case we end up going through with that Thrall Cell raid thing. They want to make sure their Boards are up to speed."

"Right..." Aaron recalled the meeting that the Resistance of Taranis had had the day before Brent, Renée and Link had left to go to Revale.

As he thought about it, Aaron felt as though it had been more than a week and a half since the three had been gone. He admitted to himself that he missed them, and Harver did not ignore the distant expression on the redhead's face.

Aaron blinked and met his gaze for a split second before dropping his eyes to his feet.

"Y'know, you've been really down ever since Brent and the others left," Harver thought aloud. "Do you miss them?"

Aaron felt his cheeks heat up. "I'm just wondering if they're gonna come back," he said quietly. "It's been over a week, and it only takes six days to get to Revale and back."

"True, but who knows? Maybe they ran into some kind of trouble."

Aaron looked to Harver out of the corner of his eye. "You make it sound like they're not coming back."

Harver shrugged and looked up to the Track as he saw the two Racers from before speed to the ground. The both of them stopped their Boards a few feet above the ground, tapped the buttons on the handle, and slowly descended until they came to a smooth landing.

The two removed their goggles and hung them around their necks, and one of them pulled down the scarf that covered their face: the person was identified as Ashei.

She folded up her new Board and tucked it under her arm. She and the man that she had flown with exchanged a few words and smiled before making their way towards Aaron and Harver. The man made it towards them first.

"How was it?" he asked as Ashei came up beside him.

"You each made between three hundred and three hundred fifty miles an hour," Harver answered fiddling with the switches on the speedometer. "That's not bad for a lap around...where did you race again?"

"Over Taranis and the fields over there," Ashei said, pointing in the direction she spoke of, "until we could see the ocean, then we came back." She sniffed and rubbed her nose. "I'm guessing that over three hundred for a trip like that is good, yeah?"

"Definitely," Aaron said, sitting up. "With a speed like that, you shouldn't be worried about anything."

"In all honesty, I'm surprised this girl stayed on the Board," the man said, nodding to Ashei. "For a first-timer it seems like you've already got the hang of it."

Ashei smiled crookedly. "Don't let my appearance as a girl fool you. I'm tougher than I look."

"Yeah, she says that and then a little ant comes crawling up to her," the man said. He lifted his leg and screamed wildly, receiving laughter from both Harver and Aaron. Ashei shook her head.

"Boys..."

"Hey, what's that?" Harver pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and focused on an object coming over a hill on the opposite end of the Track. "It looks like a...covered wagon."

Aaron jumped to his feet, startling the three near him, and he peered in the direction that Harver was looking in. His heart leaped with joy and relief when he spotted the wheeled vehicle rolling down the path in their direction. "Think it's them?" he asked, restraining from dashing towards the wagon.

"It has to be," the man said, his smile fading from his face as he too looked to the wagon. "Not just anyone would come up to Taranis unless they were one of us."

The wagon bumped over the uneven leveling that was the Track. The horses' heads were low as they trudged along, looking exhausted as they pulled the wagon across the dirt terrain. As the wagon came closer, the person in the front seat proved to be Renée.

Her expression was somber and it looked as though she had something heavy weighing upon her thoughts. Had Aaron not then called out to her, she most likely would not have noticed anyone.

"Renée," Aaron said again, coming up to the front of the wagon to see her. His once cheerful grin instantly fell at the look on her face. "Uh...how did it go?" Aaron regretted the question slipping out as soon as it did. Renée looked down to him slowly, the look on her face remaining troubled. "Everyone else is still with you, right?"

The flaps of the wagon's backside were pushed aside as two people hopped out. Their boots thumped against the ground as they landed and one of them threw off his hood, revealing a head of scruffy, light blue hair. The one who had gotten out of the wagon with him was Link; he removed the brown bandanna from around his head.

Brent's eyes looked to Aaron and the others in turn, and whether or not he was glad to return was unsure.

"Brent," Harver stood, placing the speedometer on the bench in his place. "How was it...?"

"The negotiation failed," Brent said bluntly, marching towards the dirt road that led into the small community of Taranis. "We're raiding."

* * *

Link trekked through the tall grass as he made his way to Aimer's Inn. It felt as though years had passed since he had last been there, but he reminded himself that it had only been around eleven days.

_Eleven days... _

How time flew.

As Link walked, he recalled that there was to be another meeting in the Conference room of the Main House early in the morning the next day. There, Brent was planning to do an overview of their raiding plan again, remind everyone which part that they would be playing, and then have everyone begin to prepare to carry out the raid. He was counting on everyone to be ready by the time it was midday.

"We'll leave a couple hours after noon," Brent instructed right before he had dismissed everyone. "Everyone'll have to fly at above three hundred—that way we can reach the Thrall Cell by dusk and we can start to carry out the plan as soon as we get there."

It was going to be another eventful day, Link knew. It would also be the day where he finally fulfilled the request of Princess Zelda.

When the Princess came to his mind, Link suddenly wondered if she was beginning to lose faith in him, seeing as he had been gone for a little over a month now. Link shook his head. It was logical for him to have been gone for such a long time in any case. It was not as though he would find Telma and her company as soon as he arrived and safely make it back.

Though, Link had been hoping for his a quest to play out that way.

A sudden whispering sound made its way to Link's sensitive ears—it was uneven with the sound of the gently blowing wind, as well as quicker. Link named the sound just in time: he hopped to his right and avoided the arrow.

The metal tip of the arrow drove itself into the ground until only a small sliver of itself could be seen. A single red stripe ran across the fletching and the wood looked to be hand-carved to perfection.

As Link turned to see who had suddenly assailed him, he threw himself out of the path of another arrow—then another, and another, until six arrows were stuck in the ground behind him.

A small form fell from the tall branches of a tree that was not too far away from him. The being stood and flipped her brown hair out of her face before readying another arrow. Her slim green eyes glared out from beneath her long bangs, shimmering with unfathomable hatred.

She spat on the ground and raised her bow and let fly another arrow.

Link's hand quickly shot to his back and he removed his shield to block the projectile. The arrow ricocheted off his metal shield with a ringing _clang_ and fell helplessly at his feet.

The girl beneath the tree swiftly swung her bow around her shoulder so that it hung from her back and she raised her fists and flexed her muscles beneath her long sleeves.

An instant flash of silver shot out from beneath her sleeves, extending nearly four inches outward. A terrible and fierce shout emanated from the girl's mouth and she ran forward, her teeth gritted and her eyes screaming for Link's demise.

_"Die!"_


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

Her strikes were quick and difficult to read.

Link remained on the defense, keeping his shield as the barrier between their bodies. His sudden attacker's knives were ruthlessly ramming against his protection madly, as though she were hoping that somehow, someway, she would manage to break him and move in for the kill.

But Link wouldn't let that happen.

He ceased his retreat and planted his feet firmly in the ground. When the girl raised her knife to attack again, Link thrust his shield arm outwards, catching her off guard and knocking her to the ground.

The girl sprung back onto her feet almost as soon as she hit the ground and returned to her attempt at destroying Link's defenses. Link drew his sword as the girl hammered away at him, and once he figured out the pattern between her strikes, quickly switched arms: this time his shield arm was down while his sword was out in front.

In the girl's rage she did not notice Link's sudden change in tactic until she swung both her knives down at the same time, locking them with Link's blade. A spark of surprise lit in her eyes, though it was quickly covered with maddening fury.

The ambusher hopped back then sprung forward again, leaping through the air with her knives high above her head. As she brought her weapons down, Link raised his blade and their weapons collided once more.

He gave an effortless shove and the girl stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over her own pattering feet as she struggled to maintain her balance.

"Who are you?" Link shouted to her. The girl took in a few breaths of air before she replied:

"A vengeance."

She raised her fists and the blades that protruded from her sleeves emitted a glow fiery orange in the rays of the setting sun. She rushed Link once more, her blades nothing more than whirs of silver in their quick movement.

She was small and although she had a strength that was the complete opposite of her appearance, Link did not feel the need to bleed her in order to defend him self; he instead continued to block her swipes with his sword. But when the girl thrust her knife forward, nicking the side of his face, Link decided to switch strategies again.

His attacks were powerful and aggressive, and he swiftly beat her back until the pair was only a few yards away from the tree she had jumped out of. Link's sword then swung down like a hammer, and the girl brought her knives up to protect herself. Yet the force of the impact proved to be too great and she slowly fell to one knee.

The fear in her eyes was hurriedly hidden as she grit her teeth. She could feel her arms trembling, at first discreetly, but then the strain became unbearable and her limbs visibly shook.

Her arms finally gave way; her elbows locked and the stress on her muscles lessened. At the same time the girl had lost her power, Link had taken his sword away and instead delivered a horizontal strike to her mid-section.

Seeing the movement only just before Link's sword could cut her too deeply, the girl leaped backwards, flipping over in the air. As her feet touched ground she spun on her heel and tore her bow off her back.

Her knives receded and she pulled another arrow out of her quiver. It was soaring from her bowstring only a second later and Link brought up his shield to block it. The girl did not stop there: her arrows flew from her bowstring one after the other—her arm tireless, her aim true.

Tired of holding his guard for so long, Link ran forward, his shield up to block the oncoming arrows. He had charged forward quicker than the girl could revert to her close-range weapons, and Link's shield rammed into her gut, tearing the wind from her lungs.

She flew backward and the back of her head slammed into a nub on the tree. The blow barreled through her entire body, and before she could register what had exactly happened, her mind reeled into unconsciousness.

As Link replaced his shield and sheathed his sword, the small movement of the girl's head lolling onto her shoulder drew his eyes. Her long hair fell away from the side of her face and fell across her chest, revealing a pointed ear.

So she was Hylian.

But then why had she attacked him?

A possible answer came to him for this question. Though, even if his guess were accurate, Link did not agree with the idea of leaving the girl where she was. He approached her fallen figure and scooped her into his arms, finding that she weighed a bit more than she appeared. With her limp body securely in his grasp, Link continued up the hill in the direction of Aimer's Inn.

* * *

Before entering the Inn, Link made sure that the bandanna that he wore hid the tips of his ears. He then adjusted the Corvenian in his arms so that her hair draped around her ears, then he entered the Inn.

Due to the time of evening, there were many people in the Inn's dining room, talking, eating, drinking and laughing. However, all conversation ceased and all cheery moods vanished once Link was spotted at the door carrying the young woman in his arms.

He made no eye contact with any of the people—and the scene reminded him of his first day in Arkania when he had gone into the pub to inquire of Telma's whereabouts. Everyone had been staring at him with flabbergasted expressions then as well.

The strength of the utter silence irritated Link's ears. He looked over the turned heads and his eyes rested on someone standing behind the sign-in desk. Rather than it being Renée, it was an elderly woman.

Link took a step forward in her direction, and as the girl shifted in his arms when he moved, he felt something warm and sticky attach itself to his forearm. Link did not check to see if he was right in thinking that it was blood.

Ignoring the presence of the wound on the back of the girl's head Link made his way towards the sign-in desk. As he approached the woman, voices steadily rose as conversation leveled out again. Here and there Link caught people speaking of him and the girl and of their ideas on what had happened, while others had seemingly disregarded him and returned to their former topics.

When he had entered the elder woman's sight, her eyes looked to Link then fell to the girl in his arms. She stared at the unmoving body for a long moment, her lips pressed tightly together. Finally she looked back up to Link, her eyes searching him for an explanation that she could not read out of him.

"She needs help," Link said. "She's wounded."

The woman nodded and came out from behind the desk, then led Link to the second floor, her head bowed to avoid seeing any of the curious faces that turned in her direction as she walked by.

On the second floor she directed Link to a room in the far back of the hall and reached into the pocket on the side of her dress. From it she pulled out a chain cluttered with copper keys. Flicking through a number of them quickly, she found the one that she needed, thrust it into the lock of the door and opened it. She held her arm out indicating for Link to walk in first—he obeyed the silent request.

In the room there was a bed in the corner directly below a closed window. Link laid the girl upon the bed, though kept his hand on the back of her head so as to keep her injury from staining the pillow. He looked at the face of the girl, half-hidden behind her long, light brown bangs, and thought she looked fairly peaceful.

The woman dismissed herself from the room to retrieve the healing supplies and returned minutes later with the items in her arms. She dragged a chair away from the desk in the room and placed it near the bedside and began to attend to the wounds of Link's former attacker. Link waited by the door, his arms folded and his expression unreadable.

When the elderly woman completed her job of cleaning, wrapping and bandaging the wound on the girl's head, she discovered a slash across her stomach where Link's sword had just barely cut her.

She turned to Link and requested that he left so that she could dress the wound. Link exited without so much as another word.

He returned to the dining room and found a seat for himself near the fireplace. One of the waiters approached him and asked if he would want to order anything. Link in turn requested that he get the most popular and satisfying meal that they had. Around twenty minutes later, he was given a large plate of meat with a few small sides such as salad, a bread roll and a tall glass of water.

As he was midway through his meal, he heard someone approach him from behind. He swallowed and turned and standing behind him he saw the elder woman from before.

"You went with Renée and Brent, didn't you?" she asked abruptly. When Link nodded, she pulled a chair over from an unoccupied table and joined him. "Link." Again, Link replied with an upward tilt of his head.

"My name is Miriam—I'm the owner of Aimer's Inn. The girl upstairs, she will need to rest long. I won't ask you what happened. But, if you don't mind me saying..." She lowered her voice as she spoke her next words: "She's a Corvenian, isn't she? That's the only reason that you, a Hylian convicted of massacring those of the Corva Isles, would be attacked by another Hylian out of nowhere."

"You mean..." Link frowned. "You don't think that I did it?"

"That you murdered all of those innocent people?" Miriam asked, raising her eyebrows. "No, I don't. If you had, I'm sure that you would have shown that aggression while you were here: while you were with Brent and the others, you could have called upon that army of Shadows and killed everyone there. While you're here, you could kill everyone in this Inn, just as you had at the Isles. That is, if you had truly done it."

"Glad you see it..." Link muttered.

"Don't get so discouraged about it," Miriam said, noting Link's tone. "Those Corvenians back in Taranis may have noticed as well. That may be the very reason they haven't attacked—because they see that you're not the same. However that girl hadn't gotten the chance to see the sort of person that you are. And from what I can see..." Miriam sat up in her chair and smiled. "You're a very kindhearted young man."

Link smiled back. "Thanks for the compliment, but I'm not exactly looking for comfort. Just for some way to prove that I'm not this murderer..."

Miriam nodded and the shine in her eyes dimmed. "I understand. I'll take care of that girl though... Oh, and your rather large meal... You know its fifty Coins, right?" She laughed as Link involuntarily winced. He had been so hungry that he had rashly ordered food, despite the fact that he carried no money that would be acceptable. "Don't worry about it—I'll let you have it on the house." She stood and pushed her chair closer to the table. "Feel free to sign in if you want a room."

She walked away, and it wasn't until a few minutes after Link had finished eating did he sign his name into the reservation book and turn in for the night.

* * *

"Is everyone here? ...All right." Brent said something to Aaron who was standing beside him and the redhead removed a large, rolled up parchment from his belt. He spread it out on the table, and all stared in wonder at the enlarged drawing of the Thrall Cell.

"As you can all see, this is another map of the Thrall Cell," Brent explained. "The image was bloated up by another of Harver's brilliant machines..." Harver, who was standing near the other end of the Conference Room's table smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head in a bashful manner. "We're here to go over the plan of the Thrall Cell Raid again, so that those of you who may have forgotten the details can be reminded. There could even be some people here now that weren't here at the last meeting about this as well."

Brent looked to a girl standing on the left of the table—she too had been part of the team that had gathered some reconnaissance on the Thrall Cell.

She brushed her pink hair behind her round ears and placed one hand on the table for support as she leaned forward to point to a specific portion of the map.

"Please direct your attention to this area over here," she started, pointing to the northernmost part of the Thrall Cell. "There are three surveillance towers situated around the Cell. One of them is located here." She then traced a path to the left part of the map: the Thrall Cell's western side. "There is another one here..." Lastly, the girl moved her finger to the southeastern side of the building. "And finally, there is one here. They are hidden carefully and it is easy to be caught by the guards stationed here if one is not cautious. This is the Thrall Cell's first wall of security.

"The second barrier includes the four ramparts at each corner of the fortress. The third and final walls of security that we must pass are the many officers that patrol the perimeter of the building. They are good at what they do and again, if one is not careful, you can be caught by them." The girl stood back and brushed her hair off to one side so that it draped down from one shoulder.

"There are two entrances: one is at the north of the building, and the other is located at the south," she continued. "However, both of these doors are located within range of at least one surveillance tower and two ramparts each. Our team circled the building multiple times in an attempt to find another way in, yet we found nothing." The girl then fell silent, indicating that she had finished her report and all eyes were redirected towards Brent.

"And Ashei was the one who told us what the inside was like, right Ashei?" Brent searched the room for the Hyrulean. She stepped in between two people at the opposite end of the table so as to be better seen and nodded.

"Yes." She looked over the others in the room, the ones who would be participating in the raid. She then started a summary of the innards of the Thrall Cell: "There are four floors. The first floor has a ton of guards, mostly glancing around with wary eyes. Almost as though they were paranoid, yeah? The second floor also has soldiers, though less than the first floor. There's also a large cafeteria on this floor for the prisoners to eat, and guards are stationed at every entrance to the cafeteria.

"The third floor is where I'd say the stronger soldiers are located, yeah? Well they definitely looked strong, and on this floor there's also the big boss behind the whole place. He, or maybe even she, clearly had some form of superiority over the other soldiers—lots of armor, too, so the gender is hard to figure out." She blinked. "Though, I don't think that even matters...

"Finally, the fourth floor is where the prisoners are held, and there are soldiers patrolling the roof of the fortress," Ashei concluded.

"And last time we discussed how we're gonna make this raid a success," Brent added, once the room's inhabitants returned their attention to him for the second time. "We'll split into three groups: groups one and two will attack as many guards as needed and steal their armor. From there they'll split up and head for the northern and southern entrances and enter the Thrall Cell that way. If you're treated as suspicious, say that you're switching due to your shift being up, or any other excuse that you might find logical.

"Group one will enter the Cell through the southern entrance. Use whatever means necessary to get to the third floor, and when you're there you'll help with securing the head soldier and the other, stronger officers. Group two will enter the Cell through the northern entrance and stand guard at the paths that lead to the third floor. This way we can assure group one an uninterrupted attack on the head officer.

"The third group will make their way to the fourth floor, and once there will seal all of the exits that lead to the roof, preventing any soldiers from coming down. They'll then release the prisoners there and carry out what I'd like to call 'Operation: Gingy'; a plan that was thought up by, well, Gingy." Brent smiled to a small, non-Hylian girl whose expression appeared unimpressed by the attention she was then receiving. "That plan is when those of group three will blow a hole through the wall of the Cell, and from this they'll escape with the captives.

"And, as for the sorcerers," Brent added, looking to specific members of the Resistance standing throughout the room. "You'll all find a position near a surveillance tower, and once you hear the explosion of 'Operation: Gingy', you'll seal the tower to keep the guards from coming down to stop us. Try to hold them back for at least ten minutes." Those that Brent had looked to nodded their understanding. "Now, we'll split into those groups and I'll assign leaders, too."

Brent paused and examined every person in the room. As his eyes rested upon each face, he recalled their name as well as their abilities to keep others under control. In a group leader he searched for their level of intelligence, their ability to maintain organization and their position when it came to authority and respect.

"I'll be in the first group," he started, "the one going to hold back the head soldier—as such, I'll be the leader of that squad. As for group two, the leader will be Renée. And lastly, the leader of group three will be Aaron."

Aaron tensed beside Brent, and he felt a jolt of excitement shoot through his body at the thought of leading the group that was going to directly release the unfortunate ones who were locked behind bars. He listened closely for the names of those who he would be working with.

He recognized many of the names that were called, and counted out that in his group there would be a total of seven people, including him self. In the group that was to be directed under Renée, there were six people, including her, and Brent's group had five, including him. The number of sorcerers that were to be sealing the guards in the surveillance towers totaled up to six—two to each tower.

"I contacted the Resistances that are nearest to the Thrall Cell region," Brent said once everyone had been divided into the groups. "Sylvonis and Onis. They'll meet up with us in the Retribual Forest and with their numbers they'll also have a good amount of Hover Boards with them. That being said, I'd say we've got enough room to carry back the prisoners of the Thrall Cell." Brent directed his attention to a raised hand and nodded to whom it belonged to.

"Where are we taking the captives?" the young girl asked, lowering her arm. "After we take them out of the Thrall Cell and fly them out of there, I mean. Are we all gonna take them back here or what?"

"We're planning to divide the number of captives amongst the three Resistance groups," Brent answered. "We'll take about a third of them here, while the rest will be taken to either Sylvonis or Onis." The girl nodded and Brent looked around the room. "Any more questions?"

When no one raised a hand nor made a motion to speak, Brent straightened up. "No? All right, everyone get everything that you need ready and meet up at the Track at noon, sharp." He regarded everyone with a stern look. "You're all dismissed."

The crowd in the room dispersed as the people within took their leave. Aaron rolled up the map of the Thrall Cell and hurriedly exited the Conference Room to prepare his things. Brent lingered in the room for another few minutes, gathering parchments that were cluttered with small writing or sketches of maps, before he too left the room.

Outside the door, Brent spotted Link standing near the staircase opposite the door. Upon seeing Brent exit the room, Link unfolded his arms.

"I meant to talk to you before the meeting started," he began, "but I ended up showing up too late."

"What did you need to talk about?" Brent asked, catching a piece of paper before it fell out of the messy pile in his arms.

"I ran into another Corvenian last night," Link replied, cutting straight to the point. Brent's eyes widened in shock for a brief second then reverted to their normal size. "When Ashei returned to the Inn, she heard the story from Miriam, the innkeeper, and she told me on our way here that some Corvenians had been talking about a missing member among them."

Brent looked down as he tried to remember whether or not he too had heard the Corvenians speaking of this. He racked his brains quickly and wound up thinking back to a time, months earlier, when one of the Corvenians had mentioned that a girl had been separated from them on their journey.

"Her name was Katrina," she had told him, her large eyes filled with concern as she had thought of her friend.

"Katrina..." he whispered. He looked back up to Link. "Did she try to kill you?"

"Wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."

"Where is she now?"

"Resting. She banged her head on a tree when we were fighting and has been out cold ever since."

"Hm..." He paused and thought for a moment as he weighed the possible consequences from his next decision. "...I'll tell the other Corvenians about her." Brent took an advancing step towards the hall on his left, then stopped and looked back to Link. "Oh right, and in our group, you should know that there's at least one Corvenian with us. But I also think that you shouldn't worry: he seems to be wondering whether or not you truly are the same person that randomly attacked the Corva Isles on that day... In fact, a lot of the Corvenians are starting to doubt their earlier thoughts about you."

Brent then proceeded down the hall, leaving Link in his solitude.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

A pale yellow light shone through the crack in the wooden shutters of the window. It streamed into the room, resting upon the face of the Corvenian sleeping upon the bed. She groaned, scrunched her eyes and wrinkled her nose against the bright and irritating light, then brought up her arm and laid it gently across her face.

_Five more minutes..._

In her mind's eye she could see the face of an older woman, her short brown hair framing her smiling face. Though the girl was sleeping, for a reason she failed to understand, she felt as though her eyes were wide open as she looked to the woman. Her gaze slid away from the woman's kind visage fleetingly to her pointed ears, then relocked upon her face once more.

_I need to rest..._

She could feel a small tingle in the back of her head, noticeable but at the same time ignorable. It almost felt as though someone were hitting her on the back of her head softly, trying to gain her attention.

The woman sat upon a chair beside the Corvenian, and her arm extended to place a hand on the girl's side.

Still smiling.

_Don't touch me..._

The girl winced in her sleep—the once soft patting on her head was growing, and she moaned softly.

As soon as the woman placed a hand on the girl's side, the feeling in the back of her head exploded into a pounding ache, threatening to split her head down its center. The girl shot up with a start, her hand flew to the source of her anguish, and she cried out.

Her wail of pain died instantly, as she cut her voice off abruptly when her eyes adjusted to the room's lighting. Still holding the back of her head and gritting her teeth to keep her voice from rising again, the girl swept the room with her gaze: it was a plain room, with just a chair, a desk, the bed she presently lay in and the sanded, wooden floor.

Her other hand absentmindedly moved to reach her stomach, for she felt as if something were on top of it. Her senses proved to be correct as the girl's hand rubbed against the white bandages that were wrapped around her abdomen. She could just barely remember banging her head on something uncomfortably hard the evening before. A pained moan broke out of her mouth as she forced her mind to reveal the details of the events from that day.

It had been sunset and she had spotted him walking up the hill as though he had not a care in the world. It sent a rush of boiling fury through the girl's veins at the mere thought of his face. Even though what he had done had affected hundreds of people, he was still free to roam without as much as a hint of remorse for his actions. Those horrid actions, ones she could clearly remember, as clear as if it had happened moments ago.

An ongoing nightmare.

All of the screaming...

She shook her head. She didn't want to remember. Not now. Not ever. And to prevent something like the tragedy of the Isle Massacre ever happening again, she would have to take out that traitorous Hylian while she still had the chance—while he was still within her range.

She moved and found her legs' mobility restricted by the covers that she lay beneath. With a growl she tore her legs from the entanglement of the sheets and swung her feet over the side of the bed. She stayed in that pose for a few seconds, waiting for the pain in the backside of her head to recede enough for her to continue.

She felt her back and, as she had guessed, her bow was not there. It was then she realized how bare she felt. A small smirk appeared on her face. To think it had taken her this long to realize that her she was wearing nothing but her leotard and tights.

The girl searched the room for the second time, this time keeping an eye out for her equipment. It was all spotted on the opposite side of the room leaning against a corner: her bow, her quiver, her jacket, sleeves, and the sheaths that held the knives that were usually hidden beneath her sleeves.

The pain had subsided slightly, and so the girl brought herself to her feet and headed for that corner of the room. She first slipped on the sheaths and buckled them into place. She then pulled on her jacket, then the sleeves then picked up her quiver to apply it to her outfit.

As she was fastening the belt that wrapped around her torso to hold the quiver, the door clicked open. Her blades flashed out from beneath her sleeves in an instant, accenting the shine of ferocity in her eyes.

The door opened wider, and in the doorway appeared a light brown face. Dark bangs fell around her face reaching near shoulder length, and her dark brown eyes immediately locked upon the bed in the corner.

Finding the blankets askew and the bed empty she directed her gaze to the rest of the room, her eyes widening for a split second at the sight of the Corvenian standing there, looking fairly threatening.

The first thing the Corvenian noticed was the girl's round ears. Her wall of apprehension thickened and she bent her knees, her eyes never leaving the stranger's face.

"I see you're up," the girl said calmly, stepping into the room. The door continued to swing ajar until it had reached its maximum opening. When the Corvenian did not change stances, she held her hands up in a sign of surrender—there was a bottle of red liquid clutched in one of her hands. "Easy, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm here to help. My name's Renée." The Corvenian rose to her full height though did not make to put away her knives. "Someone told me about what happened yesterday. About your wounds and how they were probably gonna hurt you in the morning."

The Corvenian's eyes narrowed, hiding the pain she felt from her returning headache.

"I'm sure you've heard of red potion, right?" Renée held out the hand that was holding the red medicine. "It should heal you right up. Here, take it."

The Corvenian looked from the bottle to Renée's face and back to the bottle again. She then took a step forward, and as she did her knives shrank back beneath her sleeves. She stretched out her pale hand and took the bottle from the non-Hylian girl. She glanced one more time to Renée, then uncorked the bottle.

She had never been a fan of this red potion. It had a sweet and sour characteristic about it: from its bitter taste to its quick healing. She slowly brought the rim of the bottle to her lips and gulped the liquid down, holding her breath so that the scent wouldn't give her the urge to retch.

Finishing the drink, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve then let her arm drop to her side, the bottle being held loosely in her hand. Already her headache was going away. "...Thank you."

Renée returned the grateful statement with a small smile. "Told you I was only here to help." Her smile then faded as her expression became serious. "Now, there are also a few things you need to know before you're let out of here. You're from the Corva Isles, aren't you?"

The girl nodded.

"Do you know what the Hylian Rights Groups are?"

The girl shook her head.

"Well, I'm a part of one of those groups—in fact, there's about twenty-six of them all scattered around Arkania. We fight for the liberty of the oppressed Hylians everywhere: we free them from their masters' homes and we sometimes steal them away right when they're being sold or when they're on their way to a new town to be sold in. One of those Hylian Rights Groups is here, only a couple miles down that way." Renée nodded her head to the right side of the room, towards the hills outside the window. "Yesterday evening, you saw one of our temporary members leaving from that Hylian Rights Group: Link."

The Corvenian tensed and her expression became troubled once more.

"I know what happened at the Isle Massacre," Renée continued, "I heard about the bad things that happened that night. All of those lives taken..."

The girl closed her eyes and looked away, the image of that night so many months ago burned into the back of her eyelids. She could still see the pained expressions, the mouths opening to scream, the army of powerful Shadows that swept through her hometown like an ominous dark cloud...

"The Link that you saw that night and the Link that you saw yesterday are two completely different people," Renée went on firmly. The Corvenian's eyes snapped back over to her, showing a distorted mix of confusion, anger and doubt. "I would know, as would the others from the Hylian Rights Group. He's been with us for nearly two weeks, and he hasn't tried to kill any of us. In fact, we had taken him with us to see the Governess of Arkania last week, in order to try and free the enslaved Hylians in a peaceful way."

The Corvenian just about exploded: "You did _what_?!" Renée looked up to her, startled by her sudden outburst. "You brought that villainous _snake_ to see the Governess in person? You naive little...how can you be so trusting to someone like that?!"

"So you don't believe me..."

"Believe you?" the girl repeated, shocked at such a declaration. "_Believe_ y...?! Why the –" she swore, "– would I believe you?!"

"That's fine that you don't trust what I say," Renée said. Her calm and clear-headed demeanor made the Corvenian want to strangle her. "I can give you a chance to take what I'm saying into consideration, though." The Corvenian's anger melted only a little, and her once hunched position straightened, showing that she was listening. "The Hylian Rights Group and I are going to raid a building called the Thrall Cell—it'll be our biggest raid yet, and we'll be saving a lot of Hylians. The whole idea of it is a complex gamble that I won't bother explaining, but the important thing is this: Link is coming with us. If you don't trust him that much, then you can come and keep an eye on him, and make sure he doesn't slip up."

The Corvenian sucked in her breath, her fists tightening and loosening. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth behind her closed lips as she brooded over the opportunity that she had been given. Would she risk a chance for Link to wipe out another group of Hylians and non-Hylians?

She finally released her fists and exhaled sharply. Slowly, she nodded in agreement. "I'll hole him up with arrows if he gives me even the smallest reason to," she threatened.

Renée nodded, though she did not approve, and faced the doorway to exit. She took a step outside of the room then turned back to the Corvenian. "What's your name?"

"...Katrina. Katrina Mire."


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Link pulled on his gloves then tucked his borrowed Hover Board under his arm. Along with his new Board, Link had been given a pair of goggles, which he presently wore on his head—he could only imagine why he would need them.

He made his way towards the sandy terrain of the Track, squinting in the bright sunlight. About half of the people participating in the Thrall Cell raid had already arrived at the rendezvous point, their expressions stern as they awaited the arrival of the others. Each of them had their own Hover Board as well, either tucked under their arm or leaning against them.

Link stopped near the center of the Track, where most of the people were crowded, then leaned his Board against his side.

The wind picked up slightly, lifting soil into the air and carrying it as it blew onward. The mere sight of sand clouds drifting into the air gave the Track the feel of a miniature desert in Taranis' backyard—had it not been for the fence that bordered it from the fields and the fields themselves, it could have easily passed for a wasteland.

It was just about noon, or it had been the last time Link looked at one of the clocks hanging up around Taranis. He looked up to the hill off to his right and wondered what it was that was causing Renée to take as long as she was.

After overhearing Brent informing the other Corvenians about the once missing girl that had attacked Link prior to that day, she had taken it upon herself to go and see if the young woman had awoken yet. Either she returned soon to depart with them, or was left behind.

Just as Link was thinking this, he heard more people advancing towards the Track. He turned and saw a small crowd of around ten people, their Boards held in their arms and their goggles either hanging from around their neck or on top of their heads. Leading the pack was Brent, and as he came forward he was putting something into a pouch tied around his waist.

He looked to a man walking alongside him on his left and started to speak to him as he pulled a pair of gloves out of his pocket.

"...and she refused to arrest me, so..." Brent was saying once he came within earshot. He put the gloves on and the dark-haired man beside him stared at him blankly.

"Why would the Prime Minister do that? Heck, why would you even give her the chance to arrest you?"

Link guessed they were speaking of the negotiation. He too remembered the stunned look upon the Governess's face when Brent had held his wrists out to her. He had believed for a moment that the Governess would agree to Brent's rash request—but to his surprise, as well as Brent and Renée's, she had disagreed with a shake of her head.

"_I won't be like father_," she had said, remorse and resolution glowing in her eyes. "_Even though what you have done would normally result in imprisonment...I cannot be heartless and send you to such a place as the Thrall Cell._" She looked away, her fingers clutching a bundle of her dress. "_Not you, Brent. Not Renée. Not even..._" She had looked to Link as her voice trailed off and then turned away. "_I won't do it. Because then I'd be helping that—_" She cut herself off at that point and shook her head again before repeating herself: "_I won't do it. That goes for imprisoning you and releasing the Hylians whom have already been imprisoned. Now, leave this Estate._"

"And so you got out clean, just like that?" the man asked, clearly disbelieving.

"I'm standing right in front of you, aren't I, Lemm?" Brent retorted. "She was feeling merciful, I guess. But I think there may have been another reason that she didn't turn us in. She said something about 'helping' someone if she did. Whoever it is, she wasn't interested in helping them in any way."

He turned away from Lemm to direct his attention to those standing upon the Track. "Guys!" he called, and at the sound of his voice, all heads turned in his direction. "We're leaving in ten!"

All nodded to the announcement and turned away and it was at that moment Brent spotted Link. "You wouldn't have happened to see Renée anywhere, would you?" he asked as he came a bit closer.

Link blinked. "You mean she didn't tell you anything?" When Brent shook his head, his brow furrowed with confusion, Link continued: "I caught her before she was leaving a little while ago. She said she was going to check up on the Corvenian at the Inn."

"Oh."

"Another Corvenian, huh?" Lemm said, folding his arms after he rested his Board against his leg. He scoffed. "Like we need another of those reckless—"

"I think that's her up there." Brent interrupted Lemm's rude thought without so much as a hint that he had even noticed him speaking. He pointed up the hill and Link turned to see. Sure enough, descending the hill was Renée, and beside her was another girl. "That's the Corvenian, isn't it?"

Link could not recognize the second girl from where he stood, so he merely raised his shoulders. "Don't know, it could be," he said once the two were at the base of the hill. Upon spotting the bow on the girl's back, the uncertainty he felt of her identity melted away. "Yeah, it is."

Lemm muttered something undecipherable and walked away.

Renée came towards the Track with her shoulders straight and her eyes never leaving the image of the Track before her. She angled her head so that she could see Katrina behind her—it was difficult to decipher what she was glaring at due to the bangs that hid her eyes, but she guessed from the frown that she was possibly anticipating seeing Link face to face for the second time. She said nothing, but rather continued her approach to the meeting point.

Once the two had come within clear eyesight of Brent and Link, they halted. Katrina averted her gaze from Link and took in the sight of the small crowd of people gathering at the Track. She was taken surprise by the sight of both Hylians and non-Hylians standing there, together, not fighting, not glaring, but talking to one another. Like friends.

She turned away from this in order to face Brent who had looked to her at about the same moment. He flashed her a friendly smile before she looked away to the wooden houses of Taranis.

"I hear you went to see her," Brent said, redirecting his attention towards Renée.

Renée's look filled with a twinge of guilt. "Sorry for not telling you," she said, smiling sheepishly. "I just thought that, at least before we left, she should at least know what was going on. I just left on impulse while thinking that..."

Brent smiled softly. "Don't worry about it, just as long as you didn't ditch us at the last second." Renée smiled back.

"And miss out on one of our raids that might even go down in history?"

Link shifted uncomfortably where he stood, keeping his eyes looking at anything but the Corvenian standing merely five feet away from him. Although she was not much of a terrible threat to him, he was not in the mood to fight a fellow Hylian soon before he was about to come closer to completing the mission given to him by Princess Zelda.

He thought back to when she had first assigned it to him— how long ago had it been, nearly a month now? Perhaps even more.

"All right, I'd say it's about time to get going," Brent said, bringing Link to his senses. He placed a hand on the head of his Hover Board, near the gears that connected it to its handle. Brent turned to the crowd, his eyes darting about as he searched for someone.

Spotting him in the midst of conversation with someone, Brent called out to him: "Harver!"

The young man spoke a few more words to the person he was conversing with before turning his head to Brent. "Yeah!"

Brent waved him over, and Harver nodded to the one before him, and then jogged to Brent. "You know how we set off," he said.

Harver, understanding what he had been told completely, nodded and jogged off to a bench near the edge of the Track.

Brent faced the group of people and projected his voice so that they could all hear his announcement: "Everyone, we're setting off now! You all remember your groups, don't you?" Here and there heads nodded, and some chorused a "yes" in response. "All right!"

Harver returned to Brent's side; in his hands he held the speedometer. Brent looked down to him as he fiddled with the switches. The black arrow upon the dials swung abruptly until they settled themselves upon the zero.

Brent cupped his hand by his mouth. "All group leaders, ride with me!"

A head of red showed in the crowd and made its way towards Brent. Aaron's face appeared as he drew closer, his Board tucked under his arm and his goggles held in his other hand. He stopped short close to Brent, then nodded a greeting towards Renée.

"Hey," she said. Brent called for someone else in the crowd that he had arrived with and an older woman approached, each arm carrying a Hover Board. She handed one to Renée, then removed a second pair of goggles that she had around her neck.

Renée said her thanks and took the equipment. As she placed her goggles on her head, she turned to face Katrina.

The Corvenian was looking around the area, her shoulders visibly tensed. "There are a few Corvenians here," Renée said to her. Katrina looked to Renée abruptly, and this time Renée could see the whites of her eyes as they widened. "The others that survived. Like you did. But seeing as we're leaving now, you can probably talk to them later, all right?"

Katrina nodded dumbly, her mouth partly open as her mind struggled to retain and believe the information she had been given.

They were still alive.

She and her fellow Corvenians had been ambushed along the land bridge on the road of their escape. She had fallen into the roaring river below, and had thought for certain that the last of her friends upon the bridge above her had certainly met their fate.

But they hadn't.

This was the first piece of good news that she had heard for a long while.

"Oh, Brent, her name is Katrina," Renée said, suddenly realizing that she had yet to introduce the newcomer. She noticed a flicker of familiarity in his eyes when she uttered Katrina's name. "And she wants to come with us."

Link looked to Katrina out of the corner of his eye, and in the same instant she peered to him. Immediately he knew why she had wanted to join them on their raid. It was almost too obvious.

Link diverted his attention to Brent and saw that he too had figured out why Katrina wanted to add to their company. He regarded her with a contemplating guise for a long moment, and then finally, nodded his agreement.

Link did not deny that he had been dreading Brent's decision.

"But, no holing up anyone unless they're an attacking Thrall Cell soldier," Brent added, taking a quick look at Katrina's bow. Katrina's eyes narrowed and she wondered for a moment if he had been able to hear her earlier threat. "We're not doing this so that we can fight among ourselves. I bet Link would even agree to that one."

Link looked away, slightly irritated for being put on the spot. "Definitely."

"Wait." All attention moved to Harver. He pushed his glasses up, causing the sun to reflect off it immensely. "She needs a pair of goggles, right?" He took the pair of goggles that he had from off his head. "I was planning to use them for when I saw you guys all take off, what with all of the dirt that'll be flying around everywhere, but she'll need it more than I will."

Harver held the glasses out to Katrina. She stared at them, then slowly reached out and took a hold of them.

When Harver released the side he was holding on to, Katrina brought the goggles closer to her face to examine them.

"We don't have another Board for you, but for now you can ride with me," Brent said to her as Katrina began to search for how to put the eyeglasses on. He laughed lightly. "It's like this, see?"

To demonstrate, Brent took the goggles off from his head and held the strap in the back with his thumb and the side of his forefinger, while holding up the goggles themselves with his other hand. "The strap goes in the back," he started, lifting the item over his head so that the strap was in the rear. "Then you just pull it over your head like a hat, but pull it all the way down to your eyes." Brent lowered the goggles until they were over his eyes then released them, allowing the strap and the goggles to slam onto his face with a faint _slap_.

Katrina followed suit, flinching when the goggles snapped upon her face. They were slightly askew.

"Meh, you'll get it."

Brent then led Katrina, Aaron and Renée to the front of the large crowd. He dropped his Board upon the ground so that it lay flat upon its underside, and the handle flipped up, startling Katrina.

Aaron and Renée mimicked the movement, and the handles upon their Boards flew up as well. Behind them, one by one, others dropped their Boards upon the ground.

Brent stepped upon his Hover Board and took a hold of the handle. He tapped the button upon this handle, and a low hum issued from the Board's bottom. It then slowly and steadily lifted itself into the air until it was around a foot above ground level. He held a hand out to Katrina. "Hop on."

Katrina stared at his face with such a paled expression that Brent thought for a second that she would vomit on the spot. She gulped and looked down to the Board, then faced the crowd behind them. They too were embarking their Hover Boards and tapping the button that set them to rise off the ground.

She gradually faced Brent once again. "How high are we going?" she asked, keeping her voice even.

"High enough for Harver to look like a speck, maybe even smaller," Brent answered monotonously, inclining his head towards Harver who was standing a couple meters away. Katrina was glad that her long locks of hair could hide her twitching eye.

"You're kidding."

"I kid you not."

Link balanced himself upon his Hover Board, and with his free hand slid his goggles down so that they covered his eyes. The world around him became tinted with light blue when the goggles came over his eyes—he removed them to see the world for its true colors, then replaced them to see it tinted once again.

_That's interesting._

He could clearly remember the feeling of weightlessness from the first time he had ridden upon a Hover Board. That had been weeks ago. And now, he was going to ride it at possibly an even quicker pace, just to get to the Thrall Cell by nightfall. The idea of flying faster than he had his first night in Arkania left him feeling partly dizzy.

He looked to the ones who were flying around him. He could only recognize a couple of them from seeing them around Taranis, while one or two of them he remembered were part of his group. He then looked back to the group leaders at the head of the crowd, just as Katrina was climbing on to Brent's Hover Board. Link presumed from the way her knees were buckled and how closely she tucked herself by Brent that she was not the sort of person to enjoy fast flying.

Harver pushed his glasses up once again and placed the speedometer on the ground in between his feet. This time, rather than seeing the speed of the Hover Boards, he was going to watch their rate of wind radiation. This was in order to make sure that they would be able to get to the speed that they needed to be at in order to arrive at the Thrall Cell in the same day.

He raised his arms above his head, and buttons were tapped upon the Boards' handles again. A rush of wind blew against Harver's front, blowing soil into the air. He squinted his eyes behind his glasses and pressed his lips together, then looked to the speedometer. The black arrow shifted between one hundred and one hundred and twenty-five.

That meant that the wind being emitted from the Windmites in the Hover Boards was traveling between one hundred and one hundred and twenty-five miles an hour. He coughed and kept his face down to the speedometer. Though, he could barely see what it was reading now: soil was blowing around it madly, blocking anything readable from his view.

He scrunched his eyes and swung his arms down, then held his breath as a gale of wind blew into him, nearly bowling him over.

The Hover Boards jetted forward, rising in the air feet before they came into contact with Harver. He could feel the wind blowing all around him, pressing into him, as the Boards rushed overhead. The shouts and whoops of the Hylian Rights Group members resounded in his ears loudly as they passed over with a sonic boom then died instantly a second later. Harver kept his head down until the soil in the air settled, then he rotated to face the direction the Boards had taken off in.

And he saw all of them, nothing but black dots rising steadily into the air until they were so far off that Harver's eyes hurt from squinting. He picked up the speedometer and flipped one of the switches, causing the arrow to stop at three hundred and two.

He exhaled deeply. They had made the mileage. Now they had to complete the mission.

"Good luck..."


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven **

Link had never heard such a sound as the wind that now howled in his ears. It was loud and overwhelming and five minutes into their flight he thought that he had gone completely deaf. He wondered how it was that the other Hylian Rights Group members could stand the sound.

He peered over to some of them and spotted the whites of their teeth—whether or not they were grinning or the wind was blowing their cheeks backward he was unable to tell.

Link averted his gaze from the humorous expressions of the others, glad that his goggles could protect his eyes from watering as he did so. Ahead lay a clear blue sky and below them was a whir of colors as they soared over towns, farms and villages at a mind-boggling speed.

Katrina groaned and buried her face into Brent's back, finding it comforting how his body blocked the rush of wind. Her arms tightened around his waist as her stomach moaned—Brent noticed the change in her grip and turned his head to call over his shoulder: "You all right back there?"

The mere thought of speaking while moving at such a quick pace made Katrina feel faint. She managed to slur the 'n' in "No" before her stomach lurched as they hit a brief turbulence.

As she recovered from the sudden eddying motion, Katrina realized that despite the heavy amount of wind blowing around him, Brent had managed to speak to her clearly. To add on top of that, she noticed that she had in fact been able to hear him over the roar of the wind.

Though she couldn't applaud herself now—her stomach hurt too much. She wanted to retch but thought that the image of something shooting out of her mouth at this speed would look rather odd, not to mention it wouldn't be a pleasant experience for those below or behind her. She pushed the thought away.

The group had been flying for around an hour and still had a long way to go. The Thrall Cell was located in the Retribual Forest which was miles away from Taranis and even further than Arkania's capital—had they instead traveled on foot, the trip would have lasted five days.

As Brent had earlier informed the group, Sylvonis and Onis were the only Hylian Rights Groups close by the Thrall Cell; Onis more than Sylvonis. He had then said that by the time they arrived at the Thrall Cell, the members of those Resistances most likely would have already arrived.

And exactly where would they have arrived? Near the edge of the Retribual Forest.

It was only logical, of course. Brent had planned for them to all rendezvous a little ways into the Forest and from there they would travel on foot to the Thrall Cell. The choice of landing was perfect; it wasn't too close to the Cell that they would be spotted immediately and it wasn't too far to not grant them a smooth escape.

The Retribual Forest was not spotted until the sun's rays of light shone dark orange in the evening sky. The woods' thick canopy was seen rising over the hill rapidly as they zoomed towards it, and even from where they were they were unable to see anything beyond its first row of thick-trunked trees.

Although it was normal—the Forest expanded to its sides for miles and its trees swept back almost endlessly. When one traveled into the Forest, the light of the sun or moon would help them only for a little while, as venturing deeper into the wood brought upon an unyielding darkness. It was the perfect place for a building to hide captured Hylians.

Brent raised his arm into the air for a short second and lowered it, indicating for the group to slow down. Following his own orders first, Brent tapped the button on the Hover Board's handle and the Board's speed dropped steadily. The others followed suit and once at their new, slower speed, pushed their handles forward and pelted for the ground.

Katrina's hair whipped around her face and her eyes widened as the ground's details came into focus. She pressed her lips together and held her breath to prevent herself from screaming—or throwing up—and her stomach flipped on her insides. She scrunched her eyes and settled for whimpering.

Adrenaline coursed through Link's veins as he hurtled for land. His hand remained firmly grasped around the Board's handle and the wind reached a higher volume. The air that crashed into his face rushed up his nostrils and had the group not pulled up at that point Link guessed he might have fainted.

They all flew around a hundred feet or less above the ground now. The Forest grew larger in size and its first few trees seemed to part, revealing the darkness within. Link and the others passed into the woods smoothly, causing a few leaves to blow out in their wake.

As soon as they had flown into the woods, Brent ordered for them to slow down and come to a landing. He led the group to a small clearing further along and it was here that they tapped the buttons on their handles, making the Hover Boards float gently towards the ground.

Rays of twilight peeked in through the trees' dense canopies, scattering spots of light throughout the wood. Katrina unwrapped her arms from Brent's waist the instant the soles of her feet felt the security of solid land beneath them. Yet, due to the fact that she had been suspended in air only moments ago, the feeling of ground caused her to be imbalanced; she fell and landed uncomfortably hard on her behind.

The force of her landing jolted her stomach and it grumbled and burbled, almost as though an earthquake were occurring within her insides. She moaned painfully, clutched her abdomen and bent over, her hair spilling across her paling face.

Her stomach gave another loud and unsettling roar and something shot up her throat—Katrina hurriedly clapped her hand over her mouth and leaped to her feet.

With her stomach turning and her legs temporarily unused to walking, Katrina stumbled towards the nearest bush and bent over. Those who had seen her turned away, some disgusted and some entertained, as she went about with her business.

Link left his Board as it was, handle up, and removed the goggles from his head. He tucked them into the pouch hanging from his belt and surveyed the dim area.

Ahead of them the trees grew close together and low branches and brambles showed that it would be a slow journey to the Thrall Cell. The lighting from the sun was no better aid as it only managed to reveal small spots on their future trail: it mostly revealed stones dug into the earth or tree roots protruding from the dirt.

Brent removed his goggles and rallied the group around, Aaron and Renée on either side of him. As the group came closer together to hear what Brent had to say, Katrina rejoined them, holding her stomach and looking much paler than she had earlier that day.

"The members of Sylvonis and Onis are only a couple yards away," Brent started, "or at least they should be. I've already told them about our plan and they've split themselves into the three groups too. So every group, be prepared to have a couple more people added to your numbers." Brent nodded to everyone and turned around and the others gained the sense to follow.

Brent and the other group leaders went ahead, trekking through the unleveled ground and hopping over large rocks and gnarled tree roots. Branches were swiped out of paths or ducked beneath and small bushes were either stepped over or stepped upon. Here and there, dead animals or monsters lay, pale with their eyes and mouths wide open as though they hadn't the chance to react quick enough when their attacker had approached.

As Link looked to their corpses, he recalled the image of the mangled and mutilated rats that he had seen in the cave when he had gone to rescue Rusl weeks before. Along with this memory, Link recalled the Shadow that had attacked him moments later.

_Could it have been...?_

He looked around the woods warily, though through the darkness he could see no image of a Shadow or of its skeletal body approaching.

"Know why it's called 'Retribual'?" Link's ears picked up the sound of someone utter these words. "It's a word derived from the word 'retribution'," Link looked to the source of the voice to see the dark-haired man from earlier: Lemm, "meaning 'punishment'. There used to be a village here and their deeds were evil in the eyes of the gods. So the gods sent down the Mauntales, the ferocious, man-eating monsters with the strength of a god, to kill them all. The villagers didn't stand a chance.

"Their spirits remained though, and this forest began to grow where the village once was, consuming it and the entire fields surrounding it. Now, whenever travelers get lost in this forest, they're killed by the spirits of that village—by their hate and sorrow for being forsaken and destroyed by the gods." Lemm nudged the teen he was speaking to in the side with his elbow. "It's even said that the Mauntales weren't called back to the gods and that they still roam around here."

The teen looked to Lemm, looking slightly appalled at the story he had just heard. At that moment an elder woman came up in between them and elbowed Lemm's side strongly.

"Shut it, Lemm, quit scaring him," she scolded with a scowl. "Mauntales are just mythical creatures, anyway."

"Yeah, that's what you say," Lemm muttered, rubbing his side.

The idea of man-eating monsters with the power of a god seemed unbelievable to Link at first, but as his mind lingered on the thought, the creatures that he had seen on his previous adventure were every bit unbelievable.

If there were such things as Mauntales, he wouldn't be surprised if one jumped out from behind a tree at that second.

A few minutes later Brent held out his arm for the party to halt. Everyone complied and ceased their steps and those at the front of the group saw the reason that Brent had stopped them.

Ahead of them was another group of people, and when Brent and his Hylian Rights Group members arrived they all turned to face them. Two people stepped forward, both of them wearing grim expressions: one a male, the other female.

The man was shorter than Brent, with sun-tanned skin and squinting eyes. He was of muscular build and had a few knives hanging from the belt around his waist. His hair appeared brown in the light of twilight and a cloth was tied around his forehead; the tip of a scar was viewable from underneath it.

The woman was taller than he was and her most noticeable difference in appearance was the fact that she was paler and had round ears. A falchion sword was on her left side and a small disc was on the side of her belt. Judging by the way small, barely noticeable and sharp blades poked out from its edges, it was a weapon.

"You must be Brent," the man started. Brent nodded and shook the man's outstretched hand. "My name is Karim, leader of the Hylian Rights Group from Sylvonis. This here's Celestia, leader of the Hylian Rights Group from Onis."

Celestia nodded in greeting. "Pleased to meet you."

Brent returned the gesture. "So you guys are all set?" he asked. He took a second to look to those that were behind them: as like the ones that were behind Brent, the people from Sylvonis and Onis were a mixture of Hylians and non-Hylians and ranged from late teens to young or mid-adulthood. Some were possibly a little older than that.

"We're ready to leave when you are," Karim replied.

"Well, that would be now," Brent said. "We'll have those that are in the same group form together first." Karim and Celestia nodded and the two of them faced their Resistance members.

"All of those that are in group one, stand over there," Celestia called to her people, pointing to a thick tree a few feet off to her right. "Group two, with me!"

"Group three people, here with me!" Karim ordered. Without a word the Resistance members filed to their commanded areas.

Brent faced those that were behind him and jabbed a finger over his shoulder, silently telling them to follow the orders of the other Hylian Rights Group leaders. They all, too, obeyed. Once everyone had gathered into their group's specific area, it was observed that each unit had now at least doubled in size.

"Think of Celestia, Karim and I as first in command," Brent explained, joining with those of group one. "Aaron and Renée will be second in command. Follow the orders of whoever's in charge," he added firmly. "Got it?" The heads of Taranis' members nodded and as always others chorused a 'yes'.

Brent then looked to the sorcerers who had all gathered together behind him. "You guys will be all right by yourselves, right?" They nodded. "You still have that map I gave you?" They nodded again and one of them held up the rolled up parchment that held the image of the Thrall Cell upon it. "All right." He turned to the others.

"One more thing." He made his way towards the front of the large crowd and stood upon a boulder so that he could be better seen, "I want everyone to be careful—remember this is the Thrall Cell.

"This isn't one of those small raids that we usually do. This is bigger. This is more dangerous and the risks are higher. Don't get caught. Don't get killed. And for the love of the gods don't kill anyone unless it's especially needed. The last thing we'd want would be for a price to be put on our heads because we cut down the Thrall Cell soldiers like wheat in a field." He regarded everyone with a frown. "Okay. If our intelligence reports are correct—which I'm pretty sure that they are—the Thrall Cell should be not even a one-minute walk away. Again: follow orders and this'll go down smoothly."

Brent hopped down from the boulder and reached into his pocket, pulling out the foot-long pole. It was not until they had the Thrall Cell within their view did he press the button on its side.

Link was not expecting the Thrall Cell to be such a huge building. Since it blocked the view of the setting sun, casting its shadow upon all of them, it looked as though its ramparts were scraping the darkening sky. Yet from where he was, Link could see small dots moving along the roof of the Thrall Cell—they were most likely soldiers patrolling, just as Ashei had suggested.

The group of sorcerers shuffled past him, and then split into three groups of four and ran towards the location of the hidden surveillance towers. Brent called for Aaron and the redhead approached silently.

Brent asked for another map of the Thrall Cell and Aaron gave him one—it was the original sketch from when he had first come to gather information on the Hylian slave hold.

Brent flattened out the sheet of paper on a stone and knelt down to look at it. He pointed in the direction of the setting sun while looking at the map's compass, then looked up to the Thrall Cell and saw nothing but its stone wall—no doors, no ramparts. A few short seconds later Brent discovered that they had arrived on the building's eastern side, where its large blind spot was located.

Brent stood and folded up the map, then handed it back over to Aaron. "Do you know how often the soldiers come around?"

"About every five minutes or so," Aaron answered promptly.

"How many pass by?"

"Er, about four or five of them. They could either be passing through up there—"Aaron pointed ahead of them, towards the large clearing that separated the edge of the forest from the Thrall Cell—"or even closer. They may even pass through the woods where we're standing."

Brent nodded. "All right, there's most likely not going to be enough soldiers to take from," he started, turning to face the main three groups behind him. "Instead, some of us will steal their armor and sneak in with the others acting as recently captured Hylians or Helpers. Soldiers will be passing by here shortly—"

Brent cut himself off and looked to his left, as a movement had been spotted in the corner of his eye. The tall grass was swaying against the blow of the wind and after a moment a head was spotted advancing towards them. "Make that a few seconds."

The others had also turned to see what Brent was watching and tensed. A few hands moved towards the hilt of a weapon. "Take a position—it looks like three, no four. Hide and the only ones who will attack will be..." Brent scanned the group for four non-Hylian men that were in group one and he picked them out as he looked at them: "Lemm, Morgan, Eli and Telnor."

The four chosen nodded and hid themselves close by the forest's edge; this would make it easier for them to jump out and strike. The others also hid, though in more discreet places.

Brent was the last to take cover: he climbed into the branches of a tree and arranged his seating so that he could see what would soon be an ambush.

"...for the third time," one of the soldiers was saying when he came within earshot. "This building is so huge I think I might've lost twenty pounds by now." His comrades chuckled.

"Yeah, and we've got to go around this thing for what, another half hour?" another soldier said. "As soon as I got here I wanted to go home..."

"Yeah well, you and me both. Sheesh, it's just a hold for Hylians. It's not like they're going anywhere. And it's not like anyone would come and try to save 'em, 'specially when General Regis is in charge—"

His words were cut short as he was suddenly sent toppling towards the ground when a large being crashed into his side. The two fell deeper into the grass and out of view, preventing anyone from seeing the ambusher's fist crash into the officer's temple.

"What the—" Before the second soldier could finish his curse, Lemm had jumped out from the darkness of the forest. He pushed down on two of the soldiers' shoulders to jump over them and once behind them he hit them both in the back of their neck, sending them straight to the ground.

Lemm rounded on the last soldier only to halt in his tracks as his opponent's lance prodded into his cheek. A nervous smile pulled at the soldier's lips and he laughed as he thought Lemm was surrendering.

But he barely made it to its third "ha" when two more people jumped out from the woods and pounded his face with one punch each. The soldier's lance fell to the floor with a dull thump; Lemm picked it up and spat in the spot next to the man's bleeding face.

The others came out of hiding and examined the still bodies of the Thrall Cell soldiers. Brent hopped out of the tree and looked fleetingly at them as well, though his gaze lingered on the face of the soldier who was the last to have fallen.

"Nice work," he finally said, though judging from his tone he was being sarcastic. "Now you four take their armor, then hide the bodies somewhere where they won't easily be found."

Lemm, Morgan, Eli and Telnor nodded and removed the armor from the soldiers and dressed themselves in it. Surprisingly, just adding armor to them made the four look more like Thrall Cell soldiers.

Unlike the soldiers that gathered Hylians from the cities and towns of Arkania, the officers that were stationed at the Thrall Cell wore helmets. Lemm and the three held the helmets under their arm, finding that it was not necessary to wear them just yet. The soldiers' still bodies were then dragged into the wood and leaned against the back of a thick-trunked tree.

Brent went to examine the soldier who had been defeated last. Blood had poured out of the man's crooked, maybe even broken nose, and a welt was growing beneath his right eye.

Brent sighed deeply and stood; it was in that moment the soldier's head turned to the side and a blubbered groan floated from his slightly parted lips.

His arm moved in a way that suggested that he was going to try and rise to his feet and he coughed, spraying blood upon his chest. Brent, momentarily stunned at the fact that the man was still moving, stared dumbly at the soldier.

Link stepped up to the man and kicked him in his temple, knocking him out and utterly ceasing his slow movements.

Brent shook himself out of his frozen thoughts and looked up to Link, blinked with surprise, and then turned away.

"We'll wait for the second round of soldiers, and then we'll move in," he announced. He then looked down as Aaron approached him.

"Brent, what do you think of group three going in now?" his friend asked as he came closer.

Brent furrowed his brow. "What?"

"I mean, instead of waiting for the next group of soldiers to come, we could just fly up to the roof and get in to the top floor from there," Aaron explained. "We'll secure the Hylians and then when you guys get up to the head soldier to hold him back, we can go ahead with Operation Gingy."

Brent did not reply immediately but rather brooded over the idea.

The chances of Aaron and his team members running into Thrall Cell soldiers on the roof was high, but if they did fly ahead the raid would possibly be completed that much quicker.

Brent closed his eyes, imagining all of the possible scenarios that could occur with Aaron's suggestion.

"Karim." The leader of Sylvonis looked to Brent. "Aaron here has had an idea to fly directly to the roof and enter the Cell that way. The chances of you guys running into officers up there are high, and a few might slip in when you're not looking and alert the head soldier if my team's not there in time."

"If there's a risk like that, why even bother?" Karim replied, frowning.

"We'll wait above the Thrall Cell for at least ten minutes," Aaron piped up. "That should give groups one and two the time they need to make it to their positions, and then we'll follow through with our orders."

Karim scratched his chin, the frown never leaving his face. "How many people do we have in our group?"

"At least fourteen," Aaron answered, recalling the head count he had done earlier.

"...Maybe it's not such a bad idea," Karim muttered. "In the time it would take us to get back to the Hover Boards and then fly to the roof, you all—" Karim nodded to Brent —"should already be on your way to your positions. Then we'll give you another ten minutes or so and we'll drop in on 'em..." He nodded. "All right. We'll do it. It beats us running around in a large group, anyhow."

"All right." Though he was agreeing, Brent still appeared disapproving. Nevertheless, he did not attempt to protest. "You guys go ahead now. We'll work as fast as possible. Maybe we'll try intercepting the soldiers on their way here instead and we'll leave someone in charge of making sure the soldiers here don't wake up."

Karim turned to the others of group three. "All right, all! We're going to return to the Hover Boards and we'll fly up to the roof of the Thrall Cell. Let's go!" Karim headed back into the dark of the woods with Aaron and the others of group three following close behind. When the last of them had vanished behind the trees, Brent redirected his attention to those that had remained.

"We're going to go ahead and try to find the next group of Thrall Cell soldiers," he said. "They shouldn't be too far—and everyone stay together! There's a surveillance tower up ahead. No one get ahead of me." Brent made his way towards the front of the group and he caught sight of Katrina amongst the small crowd.

"Katrina." She looked to him, a frown stilled upon her face.

"What?"

Brent overlooked her rude response. "Stay here and make sure that those soldiers stay unconscious."

Katrina's shoulders straightened and she coiled a fist. She glared at Brent from behind her long bangs, and then turned away. "Fine."

She shoved past those that were standing behind her and plopped herself onto a rock beside the bodies of the Thrall Cell soldiers. Brent watched her for a moment then called for the others to follow behind him.

Katrina rested her head in the palm of her hand and watched angrily as Brent and the others jogged off

And Link was with them.

She gritted her teeth and restrained from growling. The whole reason that she had gone with them, the whole reason that she had endured her stomach pains while flying was so that she could keep an eye on Link. She did not care if everyone else trusted him. All that she knew was that she wanted to find the proof with her own eyes that he was innocent.

No, what she really wanted was to find that he was not innocent.

When that thought entered her mind, Katrina suddenly began to wonder: what if Link was innocent? Would that mean that the Isle Massacre had never occurred, that she was accusing someone of an event that had never happened?

No, that could not be it. Word of the Isle Massacre had spread—not only Arkania, but also even a few countries along the coast had heard about it. It had definitely happened. But one question remained in her mind:

If Link had not done it, then who did?


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

Brent held up a hand, halting the group and Link stopped short beside him. He followed Brent's eyes and saw a tall tower not too far ahead of them, though it was mostly hidden behind the branches of trees and a thicket that winded all around it. Thanks to the fact that he and everyone else were still hidden in the darkness of the wood, the soldiers standing at the top of the hidden surveillance tower had still not seen them.

Link looked away from the building ahead of him, for he could see the heads of four people in his peripheral vision. The small party was kneeling behind a cluster of bushes, perfectly still other than the tilting of their heads when they spoke to each other.

Link turned back around to face the edge of the forest and simultaneously with everyone else spotted another group of Thrall Cell soldiers.

Unlike the first group that they had attacked, these soldiers were more spread apart. Their lances were pointed forward and their knees were bent as they moved; their heads continuously turned to find if they could lay their eyes on any unfamiliar faces. Once the soldiers were a few feet away from where Link and the others were hiding, Brent gave the order for four members of group two to attack.

Their victims were more resistant than the earlier soldiers, making it only a little more difficult to steal their armor. Though the way the Resistance members of group two swiftly dealt with the soldiers, it was hard to determine whether or not it was actually difficult for them.

Again the bodies of the soldiers were hidden and someone was put in charge of ensuring that they remained unconscious.

"Eight with armor and fourteen without," Brent said, mostly to himself. "All right, I think that's enough."

"With eight of us in armor and fourteen bare," Celestia started, turning to Brent, "what do you plan on doing?"

"The ones dressed as soldiers that are in group one will take the other group one members as captives to one of the gates," Brent started "likewise for group two." Celestia slowly nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. ...Y'know, for a kid you've actually got a good head on your shoulders."

"Is that supposed to mean something?" muttered a girl aside to someone standing beside her.

He shrugged in reply.

"Thanks...I think." Brent smiled then looked to the armored Hylian Rights Group members. "Group one, to the southern entrance, which is that way." He inclined his head to his left. "Group two, the northern entrance." He turned to depart but a tap on his arm stopped him.

"Hey." Brent searched for the source of the voice then dropped his gaze to see Renée's face. She frowned and opened her mouth to speak, though no words came out. Then she sighed and dropped her eyes to the ground before looking up to him again. "Stay safe, all right?"

Brent nodded. "Same to you." He gave her a brief embrace, catching her off guard, and then turned to face those of group one.

By then Lemm had begun to absentmindedly sift his hands through the pouches hanging from his belt and had found a long, rolled up rope.

Upon seeing the rope, Brent called for the others to gather themselves into two lines of five; once everyone had filed in that specific order, Lemm stepped up to each of them, binding their wrists with the rope tightly.

When he had finished he stationed himself at the head of the line, the remains of the rope held firmly in his hand. The other three soldier impersonators stood near the back, their lances held upright as they tried to make their roles more believable.

Link peeked over his shoulder to see the members of group two doing the same. He briefly caught Ashei's eye before Lemm pulled on the rope roughly, forcing him to turn away and march ahead with everyone.

He and a few of the others stumbled frequently, as it was difficult to walk while being linked to so many people at once. Yet Link silently swore to endure it; for the sake of Telma and her company, as well as for the success of the raid.

* * *

Karim's foot squished something upon the dark ground, creating a cracking sound that echoed throughout the dense wood. He looked up warily, as though expecting something to jump out and attack upon hearing the sound. When everything remained still, Karim continued on the nature-crowded trail towards the Hover Boards.

The dim, orange light of the sun was fading as the sun sank behind the hills, thinning the once fat rays of illumination that poured through the canopy of the forest. Karim and his company arrived at where he had had his Hover Boards land and upon their reaching the area, all of them took hold of a Hover Board.

The buttons on the handles of the Boards were pressed and each occupied vehicle steadily rose into the air. Rising through the tops of the trees resulted in a few cuts and scratches, however they were easily ignored.

Once they had all risen at least twenty feet above the treetops, Karim ordered for them to fly towards the Thrall Cell's roof while still rising. The members of group three submitted to his demand and pressed the buttons upon the Boards' handles again, making them soar towards the roof while gaining altitude.

It took them less than a minute to arrive above the Thrall Cell, and once there they had a clear view of its entire roof and the soldiers that patrolled it. One of the girls flying near Karim turned to face him.

"There are two trapdoors," she said, "one on the east side and one on the north side." Karim looked down to the roof and as his ally had said there were indeed two trapdoors stationed in those places. The walls of the Thrall Cell were also separated by the ramparts, so a soldier who was patrolling on the east side of the roof could not continue walking around the perimeter of the building.

As Karim observed this, he caught sight of two small groups heading towards the north and south of the Thrall Cell. Each group was led by at least four soldiers and behind them the people were linked together with rope. Karim's once squinting eyes widened briefly as he peered down, trying to decipher one of the faces of the captives.

Even from where he was, he could see the blue hair of a Hylian being pulled along towards the southern gates, as well as see the form of Celestia being pulled towards the other entrance.

"Groups one and two are moving in," he noted aloud. Aaron followed his gaze until he too could see the two groups filing towards the northern and southern sides of the Thrall Cell. "We'll wait another ten minutes, all right? Until then, everyone stand by."

Aaron nodded. "Understood."

* * *

"Keep your heads down," Celestia ordered. She was at the front of the line and had turned her head to speak to the ones behind her. "Don't make eye contact with a soldier. You're captives. When we're inside, we'll get to the cafeteria and then subdue the soldiers keeping guard there. After that we'll station ourselves at all staircases leading to the third floor. Understood?"

Everyone replied with a silent nod. Celestia returned the gesture and faced forward, hobbling every other step as her pace had yet to adjust to the rope that pulled her.

The soldier at the head of the line turned the corner of the Thrall Cell and came within view of the northern gate. An empty moat stood between the second group and the entrance, yet fortunately a small drawbridge covered the space. A tall arched doorway was located on the opposite end of the drawbridge and on either side of it stood an officer. The arched doorway was filled with darkness, preventing any of them from seeing what lay beyond it.

The soldier leading the line tugged on the rope strongly, causing many of those in the lines to stumble or trip forward.

"Move it," he demanded in a rough tone.

The three soldiers that were stationed in the back of the line prodded their lances into the backs of their fake captives, urging them to hurry forward.

The torchlight cast dancing and flickering shadows on the ground as the group approached, crackling and popping as it did so. Their boots clomped hollowly upon the drawbridge, making the thickening darkness of the area only a bit more ominous.

Upon reaching the end of the drawbridge, the soldier at the head of the line stopped. His eyes looked from one of the guards to the other beneath the slits of his helmet, expecting one of them to address him.

The soldier on the left approached them and examined the number of faces that were soon to be, what he believed, new slaves.

"Some Hylians and some Helpers," he informed his partner, looking over to him. He nodded to the other soldiers. "Bring 'em up."

The soldier returned to his post and stomped the bottom of his lance into the ground. An eerie screeching noise was heard, like that of iron scraping against stone, and the second group filed into the darkness of the curved entryway.

As the group walked through the entrance, they discovered that the arched doorway was in fact, not just a doorway, but a long hall constructed of smooth-faced stones. The ground was simply soil, covered with a multitude of various sized footsteps that traveled along their same path or were facing the opposite direction. Some appeared as though the person that they belonged to had stumbled or merely dragged their feet along the land, while others were firmly placed in the dirt, flashing their clear shape. The walls of the Cell's northern gate followed a straight path, echoing the sounds of the group members' hushed breathing.

The darkness of the hall consumed them entirely, dulling their senses as they proceeded further. Finally, the dim light of a torch illuminated where they were walking, revealing a wooden doorway rimmed with metal.

Ashei looked up and saw the ends of an iron portcullis protruding from a long slit in the ceiling. From this she gathered that the screeching sound that she and the others had heard was the gate rising.

One of the Resistance members standing at the back of the line approached the doors and gripped the handle of one of them. He tugged with all his might, and the heavy door slowly submitted to his will and opened. With the help of another posing officer, the door was pushed halfway open, granting the entire party entrance to the Thrall Cell. Once everyone was inside, the doors were pulled shut.

The hall that the group had now entered was narrow and appeared wide enough for them to walk along one side of the corridor as well as have at least one person on the opposite side. The stone walls glinted a dark red in the light of the torches.

Group two started forward again and less than a minute into their advance another soldier came from around a hidden corner, startling most of them. He walked past them without a glance and when he had reached the door that they had entered, spun on his heel and walked back from whence he came.

"Keep an eye out," Ashei said lowly. "There's a lot more of them, yeah?"

They started forward again, following the straight corridor that they were in. The numbers of soldiers that they passed by were numerous and the members of group two made no eye contact.

As Ashei had described before, the soldiers looked tense, with their mouths frowning and their hands clasped tightly around their lances. Midway down the hall they turned to their right and filed up a stone staircase—had they not recently seen a soldier stop and look to it, they would have been oblivious to it completely.

There was no light on the ascending staircase and to remain safe the group traveled it slowly. After they had reached the top of the staircase, they were faced with the decision of three passageways: one that went left, one that went right, and the final that went straight ahead.

"Erm..." The Resistance member that was holding the rope turned to face Celestia.

"Try the straight one," she said shortly to his silent question. The young man turned back around and pulled on the rope again, dragging the captives behind him.

This hall was not as long as the ones they had passed through earlier and it was also a bit wider. There was more room for soldiers to pass by on their patrol, though there were not as many as on the first floor.

They reached the end of this hall quickly and stopped abruptly. To their surprise, a Thrall Cell soldier was blocking the exit.

The soldier leading group two stared blankly for a moment, and then stepped forward, wrenching on the rope as he did so. "'Scuse me, but, ah..."

"Hmm? Who's there?" The soldier blocking the doorway that presumably led to the cafeteria peered into the dimness of the hall, his eyes locking on the figures of the people that approached. "Oh." His guard lowered slightly. "More, huh?"

"Yeah," answered one of the soldiers situated in the rear. "We're supposed to bring 'em to the fourth floor, aren't we?"

The soldier frowned. "No." A pause. "You're supposed to take 'em to the Second-in-Command, and this month that's Captain Archibald." The impersonating soldiers exchanged confused and worried glances with one another. "Wait here, I'll bring him down to you."

When he turned to walk towards the door at the end of the hall, Celestia kicked the soldier in front of her in the leg.

"Reu, unbind me," she ordered through gritted teeth.

The soldier, Reu, nodded firmly and hurriedly began to untie the knot that held Celestia's wrists together. As he worked, Celestia looked up to the soldier in apprehension; he was reaching out for the doorknob now.

Her hands suddenly fell to her sides as the knot was undone. Swiftly, Celestia jumped out from behind Reu and ripped the disc off of her belt. She brought it back around her shoulder and then swung her arm out, releasing the disc.

Its blades glimmered in the flickering light of the torches as it soared forward, then it lodged itself into the soldier's back. He grunted and slumped to the ground, perfectly still.

"Hey, Celestia, I thought Brent said not to kill anyone," Renée said, her voice sounding remorseful.

"He's not dead." Celestia ran forward to retrieve her disc. She wiped the blood off of it with the end of her shirt then re-equipped it. She looked down to the soldier, whose face was turned to face the ground. His hand moved and a slurred moan escaped his lips, and then it died with a slow exhale. "...Oh."

Her eyes narrowed and she looked back to the second group. She exhaled sharply through her nostrils, and then picked up the man's vacant body and propped it against a corner where the light could not reach. "I guess in the heat of the situation I missed my mark..." Celestia returned to her team and began to untie them.

When Renée was released from the rope, she rubbed her sore wrists and looked up to the door. She marched towards it as Celestia moved on to free the next person. Renée gripped the handle and pulled lightly, finding that the door was heavier than it appeared. She grabbed the handle with both hands this time and tugged with more strength, succeeding in pulling the door ajar enough for her to peek through to its other side.

Through the slit of space between the door and its frame, Renée could see part of the room that was the cafeteria. It was the brightest room she had seen so far, as well as larger than she had imagined, and with her limited vision she could not see where its end wall was. Though she could see one of the cafeteria's corners up ahead; from this she figured that the room wasn't extremely large, but it was big enough.

Wooden bench tables were lined up throughout the entire room and each and every one of them were empty. Renée could also see a soldier standing on the opposite end of the room, blocking a small staircase. She pushed the door shut, conveniently just before a soldier walked past.

Renée turned around to face her squad and caught Celestia looking at her.

"What did you see?" she asked as soon as she saw Renée looking to her.

"It's the cafeteria," Renée replied. "I'm guessing there are at least two sets of stairs, but I only saw one. They're guarded with one soldier."

Celestia nodded. "And let's presume that there are some other soldiers there that we haven't seen. Okay, I need one of you fake soldiers to go back down the hall and go right this time. There's most likely another hall that leads to another entrance to the cafeteria. Take down that soldier and take his post—or, to make matters simple, you could just try telling him that his shift's up."

"I'll go." One of the officers raised his hand.

"Thanks, Andis. Make sure no one enters unless they're from group one." Andis nodded and jogged back down the hall, his armor clinking and clanking noisily. The sound of his metal footsteps died a few moments later.

"All right, now one person will stand guard here—all right, Iven?" One of the officers had raised his hand half-mast, though Celestia had spotted it in any case. "You have the same orders as Andis. Everyone else, come through this door with me. Your orders are to subdue all Thrall Cell soldiers that you see. Don't follow my earlier example,"— a few heads turned to glance at the fallen soldier —"no killing. Now, we'll have the fake soldiers go in first, just to give the rest of us a chance to break in and catch them off guard. Are we clear?"

"Ma'am," was the chorused response.

"Then let's move."

One of the soldiers made his way towards the door and pulled it as wide as it could go. He entered first and the other soldiers entered after him. Celestia drew her sword and trooped in after him. The others followed her lead and drew their own weapons.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

Link couldn't shake the feeling that Lemm was enjoying being the line leader and having the job of frequently tugging on the rope. At times, Link barely had the chance to recover from a stumble before Lemm pulled on the rope again. He was suffering from two or more stumbles at once and he was starting to get irritated by it.

_So this is what they meant by him being annoying..._

His group had already made it into the Thrall Cell, which was easier than he had expected, and they were presently traveling through the first halls located behind the southern gates. They overwhelmed his ears with the sound of metal footsteps and every few seconds a Thrall Cell soldier would pass.

When they had reached what they guessed to be the middle of the corridor, Lemm spotted a dark staircase on his left. He glanced sideways at Brent before pulling his captives up the staircase. The other three soldiers followed after them, slowly though, as they found the stairs to be small and there was no lighting to direct their steps.

At the top of the staircase the group came across three passageways, just as the second group had: a path that went left, one that went right, and one that went straight ahead. Just as Celestia had directed her team straight, so did Brent. They traveled down this hall hurriedly, as they wanted to complete their mission as fast as possible. Along this route, only one soldier passed by them.

Upon reaching the end of the hallway, they came across a Thrall Cell soldier standing at the end of the hall. Lemm stopped short and looked to Brent. When the blue-haired Hylian did not look to him, Lemm continued walking forward. "Oy."

The soldier standing in front of the door directed his attention to them when he heard Lemm speak. A small smile formed on his face and he raised his hand in a friendly wave. Again, Lemm brought his company to a halt. "Um..."

"That was quick," the soldier said. He removed his helmet to show a face that a few people in Brent's squad recognized.

"Andis!" one of the non-Hylian girls cried out. "So you guys made it. That's good."

Andis walked forward to help with untying those posing as captives. "Celestia and her team are already in the cafeteria," he said while undoing a knot. "That door's thick, but I could still hear them making a ruckus in there. I'm pretty sure you guys are clear to head up to the head officer."

Brent rubbed his wrists. "General Regis..."

Link walked towards the door and wrapped his fingers around the handle. He pulled and when the heavy door scraped against the floor as it moved a small inch, Link decided to pull with two hands. When he had the door all the way open, his eyes worked to adjust to the brighter lighting of the room. A few of the wooden bench tables were askew, and someone was dragging the body of a Thrall Cell soldier off into a corner.

Link faced the group behind him. "Yeah, it's fine."

Andis finished untying the last of the Hylian Rights Group members, and then followed after Brent and the others as they entered the cafeteria. Once they were all inside, Andis replaced the helmet on his head and pushed the door shut. He remained on the other side, as he still had to ensure that no other Thrall Cell soldiers entered the room.

"They're here!" Brent looked up at the sound of the voice and spotted the rest of group two crowded around one of the staircases that led to the third floor. The person who had shouted out was someone he did not recognize; he was probably a member of Onis or Sylvonis. Celestia and Renée came out from the midst of the small crowd.

"They were easy to handle," Celestia said to Brent as he approached. "Though we had a small incident in the hall on the other side, where I..." She trailed off, feeling partly ashamed for her actions. "...Slew a soldier," she finished quietly. Brent did not react, making Celestia feel a twinge of guilt course through her. She brushed the emotion away, however, for it was a raid. There was no possible way that they could have avoided a few deaths to the enemy side.

"Group three should be moving in now," Brent said, addressing the entire group. "My team and I will do our best to hold back the head officers when Operation Gingy is put into effect. And remember, as soon as you guys hear the explosion, leave." Brent then turned to look to the armored ones of his group. "You don't need to wear your armor anymore. From here on, we're going in comfortable." Heads nodded their understanding and the four who had dressed themselves as Thrall Cell soldiers began to remove their armor.

"You're sure that's all you need, right?" Renée asked, doing a quick head count of Brent's team. "Just ten?"

"Yeah, we can handle it," Brent countered, his voice calm. "I'm sure of it." Renée shrugged.

"Just don't die."

"You're amazing when it comes to giving encouragement, you know that?"

Renée smiled to the sardonic comment. "I try."

Brent scoffed and turned away, though a faint smile was on his face. He waved his arm for the members of group one to follow him, and he jogged up the staircase. When he and the others had vanished into the darkness of the stairway, Celestia seated herself at one of the tables.

"Now what?" inquired one of her subordinates.

"We wait," she answered, resting her cheek on her knuckles as she leaned on the table. She closed her eyes and crossed her legs, then sighed.

* * *

"That's it, they're in." Aaron looked to Karim then let his eyes wander to look at the horizon. The sun was long-gone and there was to be a new moon that night. The stars twinkled in the dark purple sky; their only source of light at that time.

"Okay." Aaron looked back to Karim when he spoke. "Take half of the team and fly to the east—I'll take everyone else and go to the north. Enter the building as soon as you get there."

Aaron nodded and called for half of the team to follow after him. He then flew in the direction of the eastern side of the building, seven people in his wake. Karim took the remainder of the group and soared towards the north.

Aaron silently thanked the gods that there was not a lot of light that night. If there had been a full moon, he and his teammates would have most likely been spotted hovering less than a hundred feet above the Thrall Cell's east wing. Aaron turned his Board around to face his unit.

"Landing is too risky," he started. "Fly lower and we'll jump on top of 'em."

"J-jump?" stuttered one of the members. "How much lower are we going?"

"We'll go at least twenty or fifteen feet above them," Aaron answered. He then looked over to the ramparts on either side of the eastern wall. "Two of you take care of the soldiers in the ramparts," he added, facing everyone again. "From here I can see that there are only two soldiers in each, maybe even three. Even so, dealing with only one of you should be enough for them."

Two of the Resistance members detached from the group and made a beeline for the ramparts on either side of the eastern wall. Aaron pressed the button upon his Board's handle for the umpteenth time that night and began his descent. The remainder of his team did the same.

As soon as he had reached the altitude that he wanted Aaron pressed and held the button upon the Hover Board's handle for a second, and it geared itself to land. Without waiting for it Aaron reached behind him to grab the handles of his tonfa blades.

Holding the weapons along his forearm he jumped from the Board—the force of his legs pushing him off of his vehicle gave it the extra push it needed to lower itself to the ground. The redheaded Hylian landed in a rush of wind, and upon his descent he was spotted by two soldiers.

"Who are you?" one shouted, rushing forward.

Aaron did not answer but rather lunged forward from his crouching position and bowled the man over with a head butt. Another Resistance member knocked down the second soldier before he could strike.

Aaron rose to his full height, as the force of his own attack had caused him to fall to the ground. Ahead of him, five or six more soldiers were running in his direction; Aaron whipped around to see possibly a few more soldiers than that advancing towards him and his team as well.

He readied his weapons and bent his knees, then refaced the soldiers coming at his front.

"No killing!" he called out as a reminder, and then he charged forward, two of his teammates close behind, while the rest took on the soldiers approaching from the rear.

The Thrall Cell officers were strong, as Aaron had figured earlier, however he found that fighting them was not at all difficult. Moving in close was his best advantage, as the soldiers mainly used lances and needed a fair amount of distance in order to attack. Aaron moved in close to all of his enemies and when he struck he only attacked with his weapon's hilt.

Behind him, his team members were also restraining themselves from dealing a fatal blow to their opponents. Most of them remained on the defense for most of their battles, and once spotting an opening, took it, and the result was an unconscious soldier. They were quick with their fights, and within a span of a few minutes all of the Thrall Cell soldiers that had attacked were defeated.

Aaron sheathed his tonfa blades and scanned the fallen bodies of the Thrall Cell soldiers. There were no wounds upon any of them, save for the large, purple bruises upon some of their faces.

"Good work, team," he said, facing everyone again. He did a quick head count to ensure that everyone had lived, and to his satisfaction found no decrease in his numbers.

Two more Hover Boards landed steadily near the edge of the wall on Aaron's right. The two who had been sent to handle the soldiers in the ramparts had returned, and from their calm expressions Aaron perceived that they had succeeded.

Another one of the members had jogged towards the trapdoor and pulled it open. She brought herself down onto her hands and knees and peered into the darkness of the entrance, and then looked up to Aaron.

"I think there's a ladder," she said as Aaron came towards her.

He got down on his hands and knees and looked into the hole. He stuck one of his hands down in the unlit entryway and waved it around—his knuckles crashed against something hard and a dull clang rang out.

Aaron withdrew his hand, ignoring the ache he now felt. He exchanged glances with the others and then lowered himself into the hole with the help of the metal ladder.

His foot grazed against a stoned floor and Aaron released his hold upon the ladder to stand upon it. There were only two torches as far as he could see and they barely granted any light. Yet, in the faint illumination of those torches, Aaron could see the bars of cells lining the corridor. He sucked in his breath and readied himself for what he was about to see.

As he stepped towards the cell on his left, the rest of his group members climbed down into the fourth floor. The trapdoor was shut above the final person to enter, sealing them in the dim hall.

Aaron silently reached out and grasped the rusty, iron bars of the cell. He swallowed and drew his face closer, struggling to see into the dark cubicle. No one uttered a sound and it seemed as though he and his entire team had ceased breathing.

Suddenly, a hand shot out of the darkness, its bony fingers clawing for Aaron's face and he leaped back, heart pounding and adrenaline pumping.

A faint moan issued from behind the bars, and one of the members of group two retrieved a torch from its location on the wall. He held it aloft, close to the bars of the prison cell, and he and the others drew breath as one.

The one who had stretched out their arm to reach for Aaron's face lowered their outstretched hand and leaned against the cold, stone wall.

It was a non-Hylian man, elderly, tired, and he stared at the young adults on the opposite side of the bars with wide, pleading eyes. His clothes were nothing but dirty rags and his gray hair was thin and stringy. He moaned again and stretched out his hand, this time resting it upon one of the cell's bars.

Behind him sat about five more people, staring up at the light of the torch with fear, and at the faces of the strangers with terror. They too were dressed in rags, and ranged from young childhood to senior ages.

Two Hylian children who were far in the back of the group drew themselves closer together and slowly inched for the dark corner of the cell. A faint clinking was heard as they moved, and Aaron looked to their ankles to see chains.

He coiled a fist and a burning fury built within him to the point where he was shaking.

"This is horrible..." The girl who had opened the trapdoor turned away and buried her face in her hands. Her pink hair fell over her shoulder, hiding her from view.

"This isn't just a slave hold," Aaron growled, his fist tightening, his eyes narrowing. "This is a torture chamber! Look at them; so thin...they look like they're barely fed! And they expect to be able to sell them like this into slavery?!"

"No, these are the ones that are too young or too old to work," said one of the other members. He stared at the Hylians and non-Hylians in the cell, lost in thought and his voice sounded distant. "These are the ones that mercy is given to," he went on. "The ones that are expected to be able to be sold into slavery are worked past exhaustion..." He closed his eyes from the image before him, though it had been burned onto the backs of his eyelids. "I had only overheard soldiers laughing about it a few weeks ago at a bar. I never imagined it being like this..."

Aaron grunted and unsheathed one of his tonfa. He walked towards the cell door and jammed the end of its blade into the lock. "Well we're here to help them," he said firmly. There was a click and the lock fell to the floor. "Unlock all of these..._cages_."

The others nodded solemnly and set to work on unlocking and freeing the ones behind bars.

The pink-haired girl took one of her small knives from her belt and approached a cell further down the hall, as the cell doors before it were already being unlocked. The light of a torch behind her silhouetted her figure, preventing the ones inside from seeing her features, though granting her the light she needed to see who was inside.

There were three people there, no more: one was a large, redheaded woman, one an elderly man, and another was a middle-aged man. His glasses were askew and a book was held loosely in his hand. There was writing on the pages and from the way his head was resting on his shoulder, the girl presumed he was sleeping.

The sound of the lock falling loudly to the ground shocked the young man, and he jolted awake.

"W-wha—? Who's there?" He adjusted his glasses and looked to the doorway. The other two in the cell with him followed his gaze. They squinted in the light of the torch and focused on the girl's form in their cell doorway.

"My name is Moraine," the pink-haired girl declared. "I am here with a Resistance group to free you."

At that moment one of the other members of her team walked past her to unlock another cell along the hall. This only gave evidence to her statement.

"Thank Nayru!" the young man shouted, rising to his feet and dusting off his pants. "Being here in this prison, working all day and barely getting enough food is something that anyone should get tired of!"

His voice sounded raspy and despite his somewhat weak appearance Moraine could see that with her arrival he had been filled with hope. He smiled to her and made his way into the hall, and once in the light of the hall, stretched his arms.

"C'mon, Auru," the large woman said to the elder man, patting his shoulder. "We're being saved." Though her face was hidden in the shadows, her voice gave away that she was smiling.

Auru looked to her out of the corner of his eye, and then rose to his feet. He walked slowly towards the cell door and passed by Moraine with only a curt nod.

The large woman pulled herself to her feet and also exited the cell. Once outside, she placed a hand on Moraine's shoulder. "Thanks a bunch, hon. You're a lifesaver."

Moraine smiled, glad that she had been of help.

Once all of the captives in the cells along the hall were opened and the ones inside had been freed, they clustered together near the trapdoor where Aaron had stood to address them all.

He looked over the faces of the captives for a moment, his expression that of pain and anger. He cleared his throat and as he spoke, he felt his feeling of shyness ebb away. He chose his words with care: "First I want to say that I'm sorry," he started. "I'm sorry for what you've been put through, and I'm sorry that we weren't able to save those who may have just been sold, or possibly, those who have died; those that are your loved ones that may not be here right now." He paused and let the raggedy, former captives drink in his apology.

"Now, the rest of our group is located on the northern side of this building," he then continued. "Our plan is to blow a hole through the side of the Thrall Cell and from there we'll escape through the Retribual Forest. Everyone will need to be quiet and cooperative—please bear with us only a little longer. I swear you'll all make it out of here safely if you do."

Aaron reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small map of the Thrall Cell. He looked over it quickly, searching for a spot that would be good to set off an explosion. Finding it, he tucked the map away and reached into a pouch hanging from his belt. From it, he pulled out four black spheres. He held them in the palm of his hand, and then he called for one of the members from Onis.

"You guys brought explosives too, right?" The boy nodded and he reached for a pouch on his side. He pulled out two dark green spheres; both were the size of his hand. Aaron blinked.

"Bigger than I thought..."

"Where do we set them off?" the boy inquired, lifting his eyes from the bombs to look at Aaron. Aaron took the map out of his back pocket and unfolded it. He then pointed to a spot directly next to the rampart that was somewhere further down the hallway.

"There." The boy nodded and put the bombs back into his pocket. He then took the explosives that Aaron had, as well as the map, and then jogged in the direction of the allotted spot.

"A few more minutes," Aaron announced. "And then we'll be making our way out of here. But for now, I want all of the elderly to follow me up here." Aaron pointed to the ladder behind him. "You'll be taken out a different way."

With that said, Aaron climbed the ladder and pushed the trapdoor open. While still beneath the trapdoor, he looked around to make sure that the Thrall Cell soldiers were still knocked out. Assured that they were, Aaron shoved the trapdoor open and hoisted himself onto the Thrall Cell's roof. "All right; help them up here, guys."

The other five members of his team started to help the elderly of the captives towards the ladder. One by one, they were sent up to the roof of the Thrall Cell—surprisingly enough, there were only six of them.

"Perfect," Aaron whispered.

The six who had climbed up to the roof stretched out their arms and reveled in the feeling of the fresh night air. They laughed and clapped their hands, large grins spread across their faces. Looking at them, Aaron could not suppress a smile from spreading across his own face.


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty**

With a short grunt, the Thrall Cell officer fell to his knees, and then collapsed on his face and remained still.

Link adjusted his gloves and averted his gaze from the unconscious soldier. He had been tough to take down, Link had to admit, but it had still been an easy task. If this was the best of the Thrall Cell soldiers, the General in charge would be effortless to take down.

He and his team had ascended the staircase from the cafeteria and had come across a single hallway; at the top of the stairs, its only routs were a set of stairs directly ahead and a right turn. A door was in the center of the hall and Link looked to that door just as the last soldier fell to the ground at the hands of Brent.

Link unsheathed his sword and removed his shield before approaching the doorway. Brent exchanged glances with his team members, and then he jerked the door open.

He and the other nine on his team silently slipped into the room. The last to enter was Lemm, and he pulled the door shut behind him. There was one being in the room, standing with their back facing the door and their head down as they read something on a desk.

Lemm rolled away from the door as soon as it shut and at that point the man standing in front of the desk turned around.

His blue eyes narrowed and he reached for the spear that was leaned against the desk beside him. With it in hand, he stepped forward, his eyes darting about the room. His thick armor made his footstep heavier than it should have been.

"Who's there?" he called out calmly, pointing his weapon forward. "I know someone is here...show yourself, and no one will get hurt."

Brent had hidden behind one of the pillars of the room. He looked around it slowly until General Regis was within his view.

He could see the rest of his team members hiding behind other obstacles in the room, and they could also see him; he waved his hand forward, indicating they were to attack. When he saw his allies flinch, he quickly held up a hand and mouthed the word 'stop'.

They did, and he held up one finger and mouthed the word 'one'.

General Regis took another step forward, his armor shaking against his body. A nervous smile crept across his face.

Brent raised another finger.

Regis' head suddenly turned to face Brent, and his small smirk stretched into a wide and sinister smile. "A Hylian!" he cried out.

Brent withdrew behind the pillar just as the General threw his spear at him. The weapon's point lodged itself into an intricately designed carpet that hung on the wall, and Brent jumped out from behind his hiding spot.

_"Now!"_

Moving as one, Brent's team dodged from out of their hiding places and charged towards the General, weapons flashing.

The General, impassive, stepped aside most of the barrages and let his armor absorb the rest of the strikes. Brent and his comrades jumped back and prepared to strike again.

And they did.

But every hit, every swing or thrust with an artillery merely bounced off the General's nearly impenetrable armor.

He laughed when Brent and his company fell back a second time, partly exhausted from their all-out barrage of attacks.

"What is this?" he said, knowing he was not to receive a reply. "A sudden attack? For what purpose?" He smiled dryly and retrieved his weapon. He pulled it out of the wall with ease and faced group one again.

His slow movements jogged Link's memory, though he could not recall where he had last seen them. He racked his brains wildly for the answer that was just on the tip of his tongue; it was an answer that was just within reach, but at the same time too far to grasp.

It wasn't until Regis had started to walk towards them again did Link finally recall where he had seen his motions before: on the battlefield in Eldin Province where he had slain Ganondorf.

Link creased his brow. It was strange that something as small as someone walking could remind him of the sinister evil that he had defeated a year earlier.

He dismissed the thought, even though he still found it odd that they nearly walked and smiled evilly in the same manner, almost as though Regis were the Evil King reborn.

Regis pointed his spear at the group, its point only a few inches away from the heart of one of the members.

She swallowed and looked to the face of the weapon's owner, willing her slightly shaking body to remain serene.

Regis sneered and drew his spear back. "Don't expect to make it out of here," he said, his expression falling to grimness. "You will either be killed or captured!" He thrust his spear forward and the girl that he was aiming for jumped out of the way, leaving the spear to strike nothing but thin air.

With the step that the General had taken to drive his spear forward, a tremor ran through the entire building. Dirt fell from the ceiling and all that were in the room were forced to fall to their knees. The sound of the earthquake rumbled through the Thrall Cell's walls and the shaking lasted for another few moments before everything reverted to its former silence.

Regis looked up at the ceiling, his face twisted into a snarl. "What the —" he swore, "— was that?!" Brent kept a smile of satisfaction from appearing on his face.

They had succeeded.

Regis looked back to them, still snarling. "You have something to do with this, don't you?! You swine!"

He poised his spear to strike and in his vulnerable position, Link took his chance: he jumped in front of everyone and delivered a quick slash to the General's side, cutting the belts that held his breastplate against him.

Regis shouted in his shock and the yell melted into one of rage. He tried stabbing Link straight through his skull, though the Hylian had rolled around him, avoiding the attack completely. With Regis' spear stuck in the ground, Link circled around to his backside and cut the belts in his back. Regis' breastplate and shoulder pads came lose, exposing his body.

Brent lurched into action and struck the man's ribs with his Bo staff. Lemm followed up the strike by swiftly slipping his blade under the belts that attached the forearm armor to him, and cut them. Morgan did the same to Regis' opposite arm. The General's arms then fell prey to the attacks of two of the other members of group one, while the rest of the team aimed for his torso.

Groaning in pain, Regis fell to his knees and held his abdominal area; his breathing came out shaky, as Brent's staff had broken some of his ribs, and his arms were cut and difficult to hold in place.

He gradually lifted his eyes as a pair of feet stepped up in front of him, and the last thing he saw before he was hit in the side of the neck was Brent's taunting grin.

When the soldier had fallen, Brent returned his Bo staff to its miniature size and tucked it into his pocket. He spun on his heel and without a word to the others, jogged towards the exit. The rest of the group followed suit, disregarding Regis' limp body by leaving it in their wake.

The cafeteria was empty when they had arrived. Brent continued running, leading his team towards the exit as quickly as he could. He shoved the doors of the cafeteria opened and rushed down the corridors—as he had guessed there were no Thrall Cell soldiers in sight. More than likely was the idea that they had gone towards the source of the explosion of Operation: Gingy.

The group trooped outside into the now quiet night. They stormed across the drawbridge and as soon as they touched the grass on the opposite side of the empty moat, they literally crashed into a group of Thrall Cell soldiers.

Link was hurtled to the ground, as the force of the officer he bumped in to was a powerful influence while he had still been in movement. He jumped to his feet only a split second later, sword in hand, though was only a moment too slow; those that had not crashed into an officer had rapidly taken them down without so much as breaking a sweat.

Brent hopped to his feet and shook his head, shaking his faint dizziness away. He then rounded the corner and stopped, as the sight he now saw was breathtaking.

With the light of the stars gleaming down, the image of the large hole in the Thrall Cell's side was more noticeable. It looked as though some sort of giant, or another large creature, had smashed its fist into the side of the building, blowing away nearly the entire wall and creating a makeshift staircase made out of fallen slabs of rock.

At the top of this messy excuse for a staircase, Brent could see Hylians and non-Hylians being led down to the soft soil. It was the first bit of soil that they had felt in months, Brent guessed, and he was filled with joy at the thought.

"Come on, we've gotta help them!" he called to his team members. He ran forward, not wasting a single second of their time.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the misty glow of one of the barriers that had been formed around the hidden surveillance towers.

_Ten minutes._

Brent drew his Bo staff from out of his cloak and held it out in front of him, pressed the button and charged forward; up ahead he could spot another group of Thrall Cell soldiers coming in their direction. Their numbers were nothing more than a handful, he could see that from where he was, but he was not about to take chances.

As he drew nearer Katrina came into his view, her bow raised and arrows flying from it one after the other. Brent rushed to aid her front lines and Link after him. Lemm also joined and the rest of group one busied themselves with helping to bring the captives down through the rubble.

Katrina took retreating steps as she fired her arrows, finding that Link, Lemm and Brent were handling the situation with ease. She replaced her bow on her back and whipped around, then climbed up and over a slab of rock to aid the captives' escape.

As soon as the last soldier fell, Link, Lemm and Brent went ahead of the escapees to secure a safe path to the Hover Boards. As the last of the large group vanished into the darkness of the Retribual Forest, the sorcerers joined with their numbers in the rear, blasting bits of magic to any officers that attempted to trail them.

The large band of Thrall Cell refugees was split in half when they had arrived at the site where Karim and Celestia's Hover Boards were landed. Also there was Aaron and a few other members from his team with the elderly captives.

Some of the sorcerers of Sylvonis and Onis conjured a large wagon from the earth. About half of the refugees, including the elders, that were going to be taken to their hideouts were fit into the carriage. The large wagon was then attached to their Hover Boards with thick vines.

The magic wielders hopped onto their Boards and pressed the buttons upon their handles. The Boards slowly began to levitate, resulting in a couple of awes and wide-eyed expressions from the former Thrall Cell inhabitants. Two sorcerers were situated upon each Board that was attached to the wagon, and the one in the back focused his or her power on making the wagon float with them.

Those that could not fit in the wagon—this being a fortunately small number—boarded the remainder of the Hover Boards with the other Resistance members. Brent took the rest of the band to where Taranis' Boards were hidden, and once there they followed through with the same modes of transportation that Sylvonis and Onis' teams had done.

Link climbed onto his Hover Board, clutching the hand of the child that was to be riding with him. The small boy, who had claimed had lost his family to the slavery sales, clung to Link's leg with all of his might and scrunched his eyes shut as the Board steadily rose into the air.

The dull whir of the Hover Boards' Windmites echoed throughout the dark wood and the flying vehicles rose into the air, all the while speeding out of the forest. Once they had finally exited the Retribual Forest, Brent ordered for the group to fly only a little slower—at this slower pace, they expected to return to their homes by early morning or by the break of dawn.

Cries of joy and triumph rent the night air as they flew and partway through the flight, the members of Sylvonis and Onis broke away from the group. If a family had been split apart by their travels, they were to be reunited the next day, agreed the leaders of the three Hylian Rights Groups.

Behind them, smoke still floated into the air from the explosion of Operation: Gingy and the soldiers that had been blown into their dreamworld slowly awoke, stunned and fearful of the events that had happened that night.

* * *

As perceived, the members of Taranis did not arrive home until pale rays of sunlight shone over the hills.

The Hover Boards were landed on the Track and all hands were assigned to help the victims of the Thrall Cell disembark the Hover Boards or the earth-wagon. There was no end to the number of 'thank-yous' that the Hylian Rights Group members received, and families grouped together in tearful embraces.

The hearts of the Hylian Rights Group members were filled with happiness at the sight of the freed Hylians and Helpers, and most of them joined in the laughter and returned grateful hugs. And yet, they were tired, and could not fully celebrate due to their exhaustion.

From the wooden houses of Taranis other members poured out, their arms full of hospitable supplies, and the scent of freshly cooked meals wafted through the windows of the Main House. The members of Taranis' Resistance that had exited the wooden-housed community also appeared worn and tired; they had either stayed up the entire night, waiting anxiously for the raiders to return, or had awoken early to prepare food for the large quantity of guests that they would have.

Brent and a number of other members escorted the captives into the Main House where they were fed with warm food and cold, refreshing drinks; it was almost as though the captives had fallen into a dreamworld. They had eaten nothing but hard bread, small bowls of porridge and cups of water at the Thrall Cell. Meat was a rarity and only those that worked especially hard were given fruits or vegetables.

Katrina had secluded herself from the large group and had immersed herself in pleasant conversation with her fellow Corvenians. For the first time in months, she was laughing and smiling, cracking sarcastic jokes and poking fun at her old friends. It was a joyful day for all, and even Link found himself friendly conversing with a few Corvenians.

Brent said his farewells to those who were in the Main House and retired to bed, as did a number of other people. Link also soon departed, tired and thinking of nothing but the soft bed waiting for him at Aimer's Inn.

"Link!"

Or it could wait.

Link turned to find the source of the voice. Once he had laid eyes on her, his jaw dropped.

"T-Telma...?!"

"It's so good to see you!" Telma stood from her seat at the table and jogged over to him and wrapped him in her arms. Link suffocated in her chest and thought his bones might crack just as Telma released him. "Look at you, huh?" Telma stood back and looked him up and down, the smile never leaving her face. "You've gotten taller! Your hair's a bit shorter, or maybe it's just me. But who cares?"

"Telma..." Link let out a deep sigh of relief. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you..."

"From the way you looked at me, I could tell!" Telma exclaimed. She appeared a bit thinner than the last time Link had seen her, but he guessed that her weight loss might have been due to her time at the Thrall Cell. "You looked like you would've fainted on the spot." From behind her, Auru, Shad and Ashei rose from their seats to greet the Hyrulean.

"Auru, Shad!" The two smiled as Link addressed them. "So you guys are all safe. Won't the Princess be glad to hear this."

"Ashei told us why you're here, Master Link," Auru started. "So Princess Zelda assigned you to retrieve us, did she?"

"Yeah." Link nodded and the memories of his sudden summoning to have an audience with the Princess of Hyrule came back to him. "She said she didn't want you guys to get wrapped up in things that you didn't know about." At this, Telma's brow furrowed.

"Didn't know about?" she repeated, sounding offended. "We knew what we were doing."

"Well, she didn't think that," Link countered. "Otherwise, I'd be at home right now."

Telma looked at him concernedly. "Maybe you should get some rest, hon. You look like you could use it. We'll meet up with you at Aimer's Inn in the morning—" She caught herself and laughed. "Well, it already is morning, isn't it? Well, we'll just swing by the Inn later tonight, once you're all rested, and we'll fill you in on what we were planning on doing over on this continent. Sound like a plan?" Link nodded his agreement. Sleep sounded absolutely delightful. "All right. We'll see you later, Link." Link nodded and exited the Main House.

The cool morning breeze brushed gently against his face and Link shut the door behind him. It was an oceanic wind; not warm but neither too cold. Link adjusted the collar on his vest and circled to the back end of the Main House and from there he marched up the green hills in the direction of Aimer's Inn.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, the sight of a magnificent horse carriage rose in front of him. Link stopped at the hilltop and stared at the carriage: it was led by two white horses and veils blocked its windows.

Standing on the side that faced Link was a large soldier; Link tensed when he saw him, but when he noticed the man's helmet he lowered his guard.

When the soldier turned to look at Link, the Hyrulean's hands were falling back to his sides and the tips of his ears were covered by his brown bandanna.

"You there!" Link blinked but did not reply when the soldier spoke to him. "You were a part of the breaking and entering of the Governess's Estate, weren't you?"

Behind the curtain in the wagon, a being shifted and pulled back the veil only a little to peer outside.

Link stared at the soldier. He didn't really expect Link to answer that question truthfully, did he?

"Hold."

The female's voice stopped the soldier from advancing towards Link. He looked up to the wagon window, and the curtain covering was pulled back. Link recognized the young woman as the Prime Minister of Arkania. She looked down to Link, her gaze holding almost the same amount of authority as Princess Zelda's.

Link did not tear his eyes away from the Governess, nor did he move to escape. How did she know where to find him?

"Link." Surprise passed fleetingly over Link's face. "Please come here."

Link looked down to the soldier stationed beside the window and figured that fighting his way out of the predicament he was in was not a smart solution. Instead he complied and approached the wagon's window.

The soldier opened the door in the side of the carriage and the young Prime Minister held out her hand to the cushioned seat across from her. Wordlessly, Link climbed into the carriage and sat in the seat; the door was shut when he had entered.

Sitting beside the Governess was a man who appeared to be in his prime adulthood. He wore a cloak and robes that plainly informed Link that he was of high ranking, and his black eyes stared unemotionally at the Hyrulean.

Across from him and adjacent to Link was a small boy who looked barely over twelve years old. He too wore a cloak, though it was pitch black, and a purple gem was in the center of his forehead. He had glanced at Link when he had entered, but now his eyes were focused on the open window.

"Mattatheus, Mekial." The Governess addressed the man and the boy, though her gaze remained stilled upon Link's face. "Leave us."

Silently, the man, Mattatheus, and the boy, Mekial, exited the wagon, closing the door behind them. They then walked to the head of the carriage and Mattatheus called the soldiers to join them and leave the Governess with the Hylian.

"I know who you are," said the Governess soon after both Mattatheus and Mekial had disembarked the horse carriage. "You are Link and you come from the land of Hyrule. And you are Hylian." Link soundlessly removed his bandanna and laid it in his lap.

"My name is Dijonay Trubel," the Governess continued, "the sister of Brent Trubel, whom you broke into my Estate with." An edgy feeling rose in the pit of Link's stomach. "However, what I want to speak with you of has nothing to do with those actions.

"Days before you and your two comrades arrived at my door I had encountered a man who calls himself Malbex."

Link said not a word.

"It was late at night," Dijonay continued, "and he appeared in my chambers out of a portal." She closed her eyes, recalling the sight of the pale-faced, red-eyed man standing at her bedside in the light of the full moon. He had covered her mouth before she could scream, and her heart had been pounding painfully against her chest.

"He claimed to be searching for the pieces of an ancient relic called the Triforce. I have read about that; it is a golden triangle that was left in the lands of Hyrule once the goddesses had departed from their newly created world. Just as in the legends that I had read so many years ago, the Triforce was split, and each piece was given to three chosen ones. However, one of those chosen used his piece for evil and at the climax of his power he was killed."

Link nodded, still silent. He remembered. He would always remember that day.

_The day the warlock died..._

"He was killed, and his piece of the Triforce separated from his body," the Governess went on. "Malbex told me that in the short year that it had been separated from its former owner, the Triforce had split into four pieces. And one piece is located somewhere in the oceans surrounding Arkania."

Link did not react as all of his surprise was held within him. This information he was told explained why Telma and her company had sailed across the Great Sea.

"Malbex then told me that someone was coming into my territory, one of the chosen ones, the one of Courage. He told me that once he found where the Triforce shard in Arkania was located, if I had captured you, he would give me anything that I wanted, but…" Dijonay shook her head, "I refused."

_"Because then I'd be helping that..."_

_That man, Malbex_, Link finished Dijonay's uncompleted sentence from when he had gone with Brent and Renée to negotiate with her. He looked away from her and stared at the dark curtain pulled off to the side of the window.

"I want to stop him." Her words rang powerfully and Link looked back to her. The Prime Minister's once determined expression fell to that of worry. "He is sinister; I could sense it. He cannot obtain the shards of the Triforce. And, what he does not know, is that I know where the shard in Arkania is located." This aroused interest in the mind of the Hylian. "Or at least, I am positive where it is located: an underwater city off the shores of Peluma. My brother also knows the location. In fact, he was the one who showed it to me so many years ago."

Dijonay did not allow herself to reminisce. "My request to you, Link, is that you aid me in retrieving the shard before Malbex does."

Link did not answer. He was already on a mission for the Princess of Hyrule; overrunning himself with two assignments at once might result in his demise. He contemplated this debate in his mind for a long moment, and then finally, he looked to the Governess.

And he nodded.

Dijonay smiled without showing her teeth and her head tilted to the side slightly. "Thank you," she said. "I appreciate your aid. I would like it if we would be able to follow through with this plan of ours as quickly as possible. Please meet me at the harbors of Peluma late this evening, around ten o' clock. This will not be a problem, I hope?"

Link shook his head. He would most likely be well rested by that time and would have already finished his conversation with Telma and her allies.

"Good."

Dijonay nodded towards the door and Link figured that she was granting him permission to leave. When he had exited the carriage, she called to him for the last time. Link looked up to her, waiting for her to say what she wished to.

"I would also like it if...if you could bring my brother with you." She cast her eyes off to the side. "Please..."


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Link reluctantly opened his eyes, half-expecting his room to be sun-filled. Instead, he saw a room filled with darkness.

He lay with his face upturned towards the ceiling and did not move, didn't want to move. With the Thrall Cell raid having been the night before and Link having only gotten to bed in the morning, it seemed as though the day that he had lived through had stretched beyond its appropriate length.

He shut his eyes and exhaled deeply. His long day still was not complete.

He lay in bed, still and quiet for a long moment, and then finally sat up. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and then, after another long pause where he tried to shake off the last of his sleepy mood, rose to his feet to put on his boots. With them on, Link opened his door and proceeded to leave his borrowed room of Aimer's Inn.

The low hum of voices drifted to Link's ears from the floor below. As he ambled down the hallway towards the staircase, he tied his brown bandanna around his head, securing it around his ear tips. Link went down the staircase rounded the wall that was on the right in order to scan the dining room; there were no heads that he recognized.

Link looked across the room to the clock that hung on the wall above the fireplace: it was nearly a quarter-past nine.

Link searched the crowded room once again for any sign of Telma or her allies. Having still not seen them anywhere, he made his way towards the door. He pulled the door open and quickly stopped himself from taking another step, for standing there and blocking most of the doorway was Telma herself.

"Hey, hon! You're up." Upon her head Telma wore a dark hat to cover her Hylian ears. Link peeked behind her and saw Shad, Auru and Ashei as well. The other two Hylians of the group had also covered their ears. "Well, we're here, late, just as I said." Link looked back to Telma. "Any place quiet in here where we can talk?"

Nodding, Link stepped aside for Telma and her companions to enter. He then led them up the flight of steps and granted them entry into his room. Once inside, the Hylians of the small group removed their head coverings and placed them upon the desk by Link's bedside.

Telma took the chair out from its position against the desk and sat in it, while Shad and Ashei seated themselves on the edge of Link's bed. Link switched on the lantern that was on top of the desk, granting the room a fair amount of light. He and Auru were the only ones that remained standing.

"All right..." Telma looked around the room, and then looked to Link. "As you probably remember, we're here to tell you what our plans were while we were here in Arkania. I guess I'll just start at the beginning.

"Around a year ago, or maybe even earlier, Shad had started to research an ancient relic called the Triforce. He became particularly interested after exploring an ancient temple deep in the forests of Ordona Province—he believes it to be an ancient Temple of Time from way back when.

"Shad studied up on the Pedestal of Time that he found in that old Temple and once discovering them also studied the legends behind it. He then linked it back to your previous adventure Link, and from there he began to read about the legend of the Triforce. But, books just wouldn't satisfy the guy; he ended up convincing me and everyone here to go to speak to the Sages with him. Though, I don't know where he got the idea that the Sages would just answer his questions about something like the Triforce.

"So, the four of us traveled through the Gerudo Mesa to get to the Sages—that was at least a month and a half ago. Surprisingly enough, they appeared and were willing to answer our questions. But then they asked something unexpected of us..." She trailed off, her brow creased as though she were still trying to figure out the reasons behind the Sages' sudden request of her and her team.

"They said that they were 'running out of time'," Shad continued. "That 'a new hand was at work'. They sort of seemed reluctant, but they asked us to go and retrieve a shard of the Triforce of Power. According to them, about a year earlier it had separated from its previous owner after his death and over time had actually split into four pieces—which reminds me, I had found something a bit before that talked about the things that happen once the owner of a piece of the Triforce is dead.

"According to the book that I read, there are three things that might happen should the owner of a Triforce piece die: for one thing, it could just remain where its owner had fallen and after a time it will be invisible to the naked eye. The only way it would be able to be found would be if another owner of a Triforce came looking for it.

"The second thing that will happen is that the Triforce can search for a new owner. If it's still searching, after a certain amount of time that is still unknown to people studying the Triforce, the relic will begin to divide over certain intervals of time: first into two shards, then into four and then into eight. This is most likely what happened to the Triforce of Power, as it is presently in four different locations.

"The third thing that can happen only occurs if the owner of the Triforce dies a natural death. The Triforce will then move on to the dead owner's next, most worthy descendant. I've read in many logs and journals of other researchers that this is what happened with the Triforce of Wisdom: it is constantly passed down to the next Princess in line of the Hyrulean Royal Family. The Triforce of Courage has most likely taken one or two of these routes in the history of time, but its whereabouts and ways of finding a new owner remain an enigma."

Link's left hand twitched.

"But, back to the story." Telma smiled as Shad had slightly waylaid the conversation. "The Sages told us the locations of the four shards of the Triforce: a City over the sea, the Goron mines, within a deep forest and in the snowy mountains. We guessed that the sea that the City was over was probably the Great Sea and if it wasn't we agreed to return to the Sages and ask for...well, clearer directions."

"But we got caught, yeah?" All attention was directed towards Ashei. "Once we had gone over the mountains that bordered the Gerudo Mesa, we joined up with a crew of sailors who claimed that the only "city over the sea" that was close by was the city of Peluma, a port city of the country of Arkania which is part of the Arkanian Empire. They offered us their ship and we agreed; we went with them to Arkania. Only a few days before we arrived though, they all attacked us!"

"They held Ashei in a different cabin, but as for the rest of us we were locked up in the cargo hold with a bunch of other Hylians," Auru added. "When we arrived in Peluma, we found out that Hylians were loathed in Arkania for events that have occurred hundreds of years ago—the events of the Great Flood, which—"

"The goddesses had to flood the land in order to protect it from a revived evil warlock," Link interrupted. "Yeah, I know the story." Auru appeared impressed. "And from there you were all taken to the Thrall Cell, right? And Ashei was released early on the condition that she wouldn't spill where the Thrall Cell was located."

Ashei smirked. "Big mistake, yeah?" A small smile appeared on Link's face as he recalled the events of the Thrall Cell raid. Had it not been for the soldiers' child-like trust in Ashei keeping a secret, Telma, Auru, Shad, and many other Hylians would not have been rescued.

"We were planning to continue searching for the Triforce shard," Telma said, returning everyone's minds to the main subject of their conversation. "Just as the Sages wanted us to. But, according to you, the Princess wants us back in Hyrule, doesn't she?"

Link nodded and Telma sighed.

"I guess we would have to return to her and explain what we were doing," she said after a long moment of silence. "Although she's quiet and always looks stern, that Princess has a real heart. She also seems to be fairly troubled lately and having us gone from the country may not be helping her. That or she's just mad that I'm not there to make her favorite tea." She chuckled lightly and received a couple of small laughs and smiles. "Even if that is the case, I don't think that returning to Hyrule would be a bad idea..."

"But what about getting the shard?" Shad piped up, his voice sounding desperate. "And removing it from sight of the non-Hyruleans?"

"I'll take care of it."

Telma, Shad, Auru and Ashei all looked over to Link.

"You guys can return to Hyrule and I'll deal with this missing shard," Link announced. "I feel that it's...something that I should do." He left his words hanging in the air in the room's silence, waiting for one of them to give him a response. Telma and the others exchanged looks with one another and when they looked back to Link, they appeared content with his suggestion.

"All right, that's fine." Telma rose from her chair and picked up her hat, a faint smile on her face. "That's our heroic Link, for ya! Always ready to take on a challenge if it means the safety of others."

The others also rose to their feet. Auru drew his hood over his head and Shad replaced his headband.

"Ashei, how do you feel about going into Peluma for us and finding a ship that's setting sail for Albaan?" Telma asked, looking sideways at Ashei.

Ashei nodded. "I'll go right after breakfast, yeah?"

Telma nodded and made her way towards the door. With her hand on the doorknob, she turned her head towards the ceiling and sighed. "Looks like that adventure was abruptly cut short, huh, guys?" She flashed a brief smile to them over her shoulder before she opened the door and exited the room. Her comrades filed out after her and Link was the last to leave.

The small party exited Aimer's Inn together and it was here that Auru inquired where Link was headed to. He shortly replied that he had an issue he wished to bring to Brent.

In turn, Auru replied that Brent had been in a meeting with the other authority figures of the Hylian Rights Group of Taranis. Link claimed that he would wait for the meeting to end, for the matter he wished to speak to the Hylian about could not wait until the following day.

Link accompanied the four to Taranis and they parted once they arrived at the door of the Main House. Telma and the others had been offered rooms to sleep in a few houses down the dirt path. They bid their farewells to Link and when their backs were facing him as they walked away, Link turned and entered the Main House.

As always, it was warmer inside the Main House than it was outside. Link shut the door behind him and, guessing that Brent's meeting was being held in the Conference Room, hopped up the staircase to the second floor. There, he waited in a corner of the room until the Conference Room's door was opened.

After waiting for what felt like half an hour, Link wandered throughout the Main House in search of a clock. He found one in the Dining Room and once laying eyes on it, figured that leaving Brent behind in his meeting would be the best: it was a quarter of ten.

Link made his way back into the hall that led to the front door. On foot, getting to Peluma would more than likely take around half an hour to forty-five minutes, or maybe a little more or less than that. For a second Link considered taking a Hover Board but he then remembered that they had all been locked up once the raiders had returned to the Thrall Cell.

Outside of the Main House, Link stood in the dirt road, thinking. He could not figure a way to reach Peluma in under fifteen minutes and his standing there and trying to formulate an idea would only give him less time.

Link started to walk down the dirt road, following its straight path to the end of the small community. Standing in the open space that was located at the end of Taranis, Link remembered the first time that he had descended into the diminutive village.

He then recalled that upon his first arrival, he had seen what he had thought to be a stable but he had not taken a good look for by then he had rushed to keep up with the one who had brought him here.

At the sound of a whinny, Link looked to his left and a small smile crept across his face. There stood the stable, just as he had remembered it.

There were only four horses in the small horse barn and sitting on an overturned bucket with their head bowed was a man, presumably much older than Link. Link approached the man, waking him with his nearing footsteps.

The man looked up, rings under his eyes and still appearing fairly tired. He cleared his throat and attempted to appear lively.

"Hey, there," he greeted, standing to his full height, which was approximately a foot over Link. "I'm Riven, caretaker of these fine horses here since...way back..." He yawned and it ceased his speech. "You're new, right? It's kinda late to be out 'n' about..." he sighed. "Need help with something?"

"Do you mind if I borrow one of them?" Link asked, cutting straight to the point as he nodded at the horses.

"Oh, ah..." Riven blinked at the blunt request. "Well, it's late and I don't really want to have to send the horses out right about now. I've been hearin' rumors, you know? 'Bout these 'Shadow' things or something. And monsters are roaming around..."

"It won't take long," Link pushed. "I'll at least have the horse back to you in the same night."

_I hope_, was his sudden afterthought.

Riven regarded Link hesitantly for a second and he lifted the back of his hat to scratch his head. "Um..."

He studied Link's face then, remembering him as the one that the Corvenians of the Hylian Rights Group of Taranis did not trust.

He sighed deeply, reached into his pocket and pulled out a single key. "...All right."

With it in hand, he approached one of the stalls and grabbed the lock. Once the lock was undone, Riven entered the stall and began to equip the horse with its harnesses. He then took hold of the reins and led the horse to Link.

"This here is Ramone," Riven said, handing the reins to Link. "One of the strongest ones I have here. And he's quick too. If you're in a rush to get somewhere, I don't think this one'll fail you."

Link mounted the steed and adjusted his seating so as to feel more comfortable. He nodded to Riven. "Thanks. I'll return him to you—I swear it."

He kicked the sides of the horse and the equine started at a quick trot—Link kicked the animal's sides again and the steed broke into a run, blurring the image of Taranis in a rush of wind. He was much quicker than Link's mare, and he hugged the sides of the horse with his legs to keep from flying off the animal's back.

Ramone's hooves pounded heavily on the soil, kicking up mud and grass as he galloped in the direction of the port city. When they had reached what Link believed to be the middle of their trip, he directed his borrowed horse to run in the direction of the ocean, located on Link's left. The steed pulled off to the side of the field and the gait of his run changed as the dirt and grass beneath his hooves turned into a mixture of sand and soil.

The ocean waves crashed distantly against the shoreline on the opposite end of the sea of sand. Link kept his eyes on the horizon before him and minutes later he saw the clock tower of Peluma rise into view.

Link pulled lightly on the reins, causing Ramone to steadily slow from his gallop and revert to a trot. Link traveled through the back roads of Peluma until he reached the long street that was the marketplace. Immediately recognizing it, Link followed it to its end. The cobblestoned road ended at the edge of the town near the harbor and Ramone once again walked upon flat dirt.

There were a few ships docked at the seaport, still and quiet but for the waves of the sea that splashed against their sides. Smaller boats were also tied to the piers, rocking with the wind and the waves. Link dismounted the horse and held the reins in his hand, searching the dark harbor for a sign of any other being.

He heard a sound behind him and he turned; approaching him from the shadows of an awning in the marketplace were two figures. One was holding a lance and the other wore a cloak that billowed in his wake.

When the two had gotten closer, Link recognized the taller being as the prime minister and the shorter one beside her he recalled as the small boy from the wagon. Now that Link had a front side view of the boy, he could not dismiss a feeling of familiarity with him.

"You're late." Link looked to the Governess when she spoke. She regarded him with a stern visage and then looked around him, as though expecting someone to appear from the darkness of the harbor. "Is my brother with you?"

"No." She looked to him, her eyebrows creased with sadness. "He was busy."

"...I see..." She then looked down to the boy beside her and held out her hand in front of him. "Link, this is Mekial Deon, a powerful sorcerer as well as my Guard." She lowered her hand. "I would have him accompany us on this mission because he is my appointed protector and also because he can open the way to the underwater city that I told you about."

Mekial looked to Link, his face troubled, and again Link could not help but feel as though he had seen the boy's face before he had met him.

But where?

"Please follow us," Link turned away from the Guard of the Governess to look at the Governess herself when she spoke, "to the underwater city."

She turned around and began to walk back down the street of the marketplace, Mekial following at her heels. Link fell into step behind them, still holding the reins of his borrowed steed.

He followed the two off the road into an alley that was just wide enough for Ramone to fit through. On the other side, Link was met with the sight of houses that appeared to be of poorer stature than the ones that he had seen along the stoned roads of Peluma.

Here, the road was mainly a large piece of land made of nothing but dirt and some of the houses were made with what Link presumed to be clay; others were built with handmade stones. The doors were made of wood or were simply open holes in the sides of the houses and in the yards of some of the homes were full or empty clotheslines.

"These are the slums of Peluma," Dijonay explained, still walking forward. "This is where I first met my brother after he was...disowned. He told me of the underwater city that he would look at during the twilight hours, and one evening he showed it to me..."

The Governess halted and looked at one of the clay houses: it was the smallest of all the homes and its roof was made of clusters of hay. "He lived in this poor community...so many years ago." She turned away from the tiny living quarters, shoving the memories of the short times she would sneak out to play with her brother while her father was in Peluma to the back of her mind.

She directed the young men behind her to a large wall; when Link came closer he discovered that the wall was actually the side of the largest building in the Peluman slums: a small church. It was the only building that had arched doors—though they were uneven and poorly made.

Dijonay disregarded the building and circled around it, leading Link and Mekial into another small alleyway. At the end of the path there was a staircase that descended to the right and was bordered by a clay railing. The Governess placed a hand on this rail and peered into the ocean that bordered this side of Peluma.

This side of Peluma was mainly nothing more than a flat wall with no shoreline below it; the ocean was free to lap against the town's edge and wear away its foundation. To the right of the railing there was a set of plastered stairs leading to a small piece of land attached to the side of the city.

The Governess stepped down the stairs and stood at the edge of the island. Link released the reins of his horse and followed after the Governess, Mekial only two stairs ahead of him.

Once the three of them were at the bottom of the staircase, Dijonay retreated until her back was against the wall of the city. Mekial approached the shore of their small island and Link remained where he was, on the last stair, looking out into the ocean. With no moonlight and barely any light coming from the stars, Link could not see any sign of an underwater city beneath the sea's restless waves.

Mekial held his hands outstretched, palms facing the ground. He took a slow, steady breath as he summoned the magical strength that lay within him and then he gradually waved his hands forward and backward, smoothly, as though he were moving to a rhythm he heard in his head.

At first, Link thought that the small boy was dancing. However, the sound of oceanic waves moving independently of the ones that splashed around further out in the sea caused him to second-guess himself.

Link looked down to Mekial's feet to see the water rising and receding with the steady movements of the small sorcerer. Link stared in amazement; he had heard of sorcerers being able to manipulate elements or conjure them from out of thin air, but never before had he seen it in person.

Mekial then clapped his hands together and a short rumble that sounded like an explosion was heard, lasting no more than a second. A stream of water from the ocean jetted into the sky and then fell back into the sea just as another spout of water shot into the sky, smaller than the first. It too fell back into the ocean and another geyser of water fired into the air and receded, again smaller, followed by another smaller water spout, and then another, and then another, until the final jet of water shot out, barely a foot above the water.

As soon as the final water jet fell back into the ocean, Mekial parted his hands and before him, along the path that the water jets had followed, the ocean split, revealing a muddy, rocky path. The parts of the ocean that Mekial was separating rose high into the air, spraying misty water along the sides of the city and deafening the three with a watery roar.

"Follow the path!" Dijonay shouted over the parted ocean waves. Link barely registered her command as he had been staring, awestruck, at the sight of the parted sea before him. The young girl marched past him, lance held tightly in both of her hands, and Link hurriedly jogged in after her.

Mekial was the last to go in, his arms now by his sides. As the three walked along the sloping, muddy path into the depths of the ocean, the small bit of land that they had left closed out of their view as the ocean fell in on itself.

The three continued down the path, none of them casting even a small glance over their shoulder to the sight of the ocean collapsing behind them, locking them beneath the sea. Water came rushing at them from behind, threatening to seal them in a watery tomb, but because of the will of the sorcerer of the small company, the ocean was unable to bowl into them.

An invisible barrier had passed over the three, protecting them from the ferocious sea as it returned to its shape from before Mekial had tampered with it. It was at that point that Link looked up, watching as the salt water covered them entirely, distorting the image of the black sky overhead.

Only a short while later, the ocean had calmed to its previous, waving movements, hiding the evidence that three people had dove into its depths. Small fishes sensed and darted around the force field surrounding the three and continued swimming as though the sight of three humans beneath the sea line were normal.

Dijonay remained at the head of the group, her lance still clutched in both of her hands, and she hopped off of a ledge, landing atop another one. Link and Mekial jumped down after her and followed her as she jumped off that ledge as well, down to another one. When the three had reached the bottom of the underwater stairs, Link stared ahead, stunned and disbelieving at what he was now laying eyes on.

Before him stood a large, majestic building, half-sunken into the underwater sand and half-upright. Tall towers nearly scraped the ocean's surface and parts of the man-made structure were caved in, blocking passageways with piles of boulders and rubble. The steps that led up to the building's broken, stone doors were still intact, save for tiny cracks where small plants were growing.

"Link," the Governess's voice sounded muffled under the water even though the three were secure in the air bubble, "this is Talis, the palace that was the home of Arkania's rulers from before the Great Flood." She turned to face him. "The very building that the ruler of Arkania during that time, King Harkmund, heard of the Great Flood just before the waters consumed him, his servants, courtiers, and family within. This was the first spark of the Arkanians' hatred towards Hylians."

As she delivered the information to Link, her expression became more and more saddened and her heart ached for the loss of the hundreds of lives during that age. She refaced Talis and, with her head held high, approached it, Mekial and Link following.

The three ascended the almost perfectly stable stairs and Link pushed one of the stone doors aside. As he moved it, the stone door gradually fell away from his hands until it collapsed onto the floor within with an echoing boom.

Link proceeded up the staircase that was located behind the fallen door and as the three ascended it, the water level around them appeared to lower. Mekial let the barrier around them fall as the group rose above the water and when they had arrived at the head of the tall staircase, they were perfectly dry.

Link stepped ahead of the three, looking around the large room that they were now standing in. It had a circular shape to it and its ceiling was arched with a glass window that had a view of the dark waters outside. An empty doorway, cracked and crumbling, was on the opposite end of the foyer leading into another enormous chamber. A long red carpet extended across that room in a wrinkled and crooked way towards what Link guessed had once been the chair of a ruler.

Link looked down to the floor. Upon it was the design of the crest of the Arkanian Royal Family. It had been drawn to cover the entire floor and Link was unable to figure out what it was a picture of. The only thing that he could make out was the bottom half of a shield. On the face of the protective artillery were golden lines, crisscrossing and swirling around one another.

"This way, please." The Arkanian Prime Minister turned left and entered a long corridor, the sound of her boots making an eerie clopping sound in the empty castle. Link and Mekial again followed her in silence.

"What makes you think that the Triforce shard is here?" Link asked a while later. They had passed by a number of staircases and walked through many open rooms, each of them bearing the Arkanian crest somewhere within them. Some of the rooms were perfectly intact, while others had partly caved in on themselves or were utterly destroyed. A couple of them were completely overrun with plants.

"Because...I had a vision." The girl halted and looked down two passageways before taking the one on her right. "I had a vision that...someone would get in to Talis and find it. I saw them take it." Somewhere within the ancient and worn building came the sound of something falling. Link looked over his shoulder and finding nothing behind him he continued walking.

"I know what room it was..." the Governess continued, her brow furrowed as she was faced with the decision to choose another path: either a straight hallway or the choice of a staircase that went up on her right, down on her left. "In my Estate's library I found a variety of books that explained what ancient Arkanian civilization was like. I eventually found some images of the castle—though they were drawn by artists—and as soon as I saw it in the book, I recognized it as the same one from my vision..."

Dijonay pointed to the staircase on her left and headed towards it, Mekial and Link, as always, in her wake.

At the bottom of the staircase the hallway was slanted, allowing a small stream of water to fill in from the ocean along the corridor's edge. Seaweed and other plants grew out of the sand that could be seen on the tilted side of the hall or on the ceiling.

Running one hand along the wall Dijonay made her way towards the end of the hall. Once there, she placed a hand on the door that blocked the exit and pushed it lightly. The door, in its old age, could not stand against the force of her hand and fell off its hinges with an ear-splitting creak. Dijonay entered the room first, followed by Mekial and then Link.

There were a few bookshelves propped against the wall of the room that they entered, though many of their shelves were broken or missing and the books that they had once held lay open, forsaken and scattered on the floor. An overturned desk was leaning against a corner of the wall, split at its center so that one half of it lay on the ground, hanging to its other fraction by mere splinters of wood. Other than this, the area was fairly vacant.

Then, for the second time, the Hylian heard the sound of something heavy falling, followed by the sound of something rumbling, as though an object were tumbling down a staircase at an amazing speed. This time Dijonay and Mekial heard the noise as well and they halted and turned to face the empty hall behind them. Then, all at once, the sound stopped.

"How long ago was the Flood, again?" Link asked, turning his back on the doorway to face the Governess.

She blinked and quickly racked her mind for an answer. "U-um...approximately two-hundred and ten years ago," she said, sounding certain.

Link controlled his jaw, unwilling to let it fall down in shock. Two hundred and ten years, and the Arkanians still hated Hylians?

"Yes, a long time," the Governess said to Link's partly widened eyes. "No life was spared, save the lives of the ones who were instructed to take refuge upon the mountaintops. There should be no one within this palace except for us."

She cast a glance over Link's shoulder to the vacant hall behind him, contradicting her once certain tone with a fearful shine in her eyes. She then turned and made her way towards the opposite end of the small room.

She went around the perimeter of the room, dragging her hands along the stone walls slowly, expecting to find a camouflaged door somewhere. She had read recently in another book of her study that a number of rooms in Talis contained hidden doorways or tunnels that led to underground escape routes. But finding nothing, she returned to Link and Mekial.

"There is not an exit in this room. It was probably the office of someone, or perhaps a restricted study. Nevertheless, we must return upstairs."

She led the two back down the hallway and up the staircase. She looked around the hall warily as Link and Mekial came up after her, and then she led the two up the stairs directly opposite the one that they came out of. The staircase spiraled up to the second floor and there the three were met with the sight of a balcony.

Mekial jogged over to the railing of the balcony and looked down, seeing the foyer of the castle and the staircase that was drowned beneath water. With his bird's eye view, he could imagine what the palace must have looked like before it was doomed to rot beneath the ocean's rolling waves.

Link also looked down to the palace's entrance room and could clearly see the crest of the Royal Family: its gold lines formed the shape of a shield, its front decorated with graceful lines. Behind it a mace and thick sword were crossed and an ax was upright in between them. Dijonay did not peer over the rail but rather treaded down the carpet to the right wing of the terrace.

Small pedestals were lined up along the inner part of the balcony, spaced evenly about the pillars along the wall. Each pedestal bore an armored knight; every two statues, the knight was carrying an ax rather than a sword. The terrace was also terribly long—bridges were built that connected the balcony Link and the others were ambling across to a second balcony that was on the opposite end of the room.

Dijonay led the others into an open doorway at the end of the balcony; the doorway did not lead to a room but rather to a stairwell and another set of fortunately intact stairs.

Dijonay raised her foot to step upon the first stair and stopped abruptly, for again there came the loud noise as though something—or someone—were stampeding down the stairs with a fiery temper. Dijonay craned her neck to look up the stairwell and quickly lowered her eyes and shut them as dirt and small stones fell from the ceiling.

She and the two accompanying her covered their heads to protect themselves from the falling debris and then, just as before, the sound fell to dead silence.

Dijonay remained in her ducking position until the last of the dirt had fallen from the ceiling, and then slowly she looked up the stairwell again. She swallowed and her grip tightened around her lance.

"Maybe something upstairs just fell to pieces," Mekial suggested. "After all, this place is over two centuries old. For all we know this stairwell could fall on us at any second."

The Governess nodded slowly and turned to face the two. "Yes, you're right. We should try a different route." Nodding their consent, Link and Mekial trailed after Dijonay as she made her way back to the first floor.

Back in the hallway below, Link looked over his shoulder. The corridor that they were in had a high ceiling, so high in fact that one would have to crane their neck in order to see it. The passageway led to, what looked like from Link's view, a colossal, empty room.

He pointed it out to the other two and then directed them towards it. Once the three were in the room, they found that it was not empty as they had once perceived.

Rather, the room was large with a ceiling as tall as the previous hall it was connected to. On the side opposite the small party there was a large statue. It protruded out of the stone wall of the palace and resembled a human kneeling, their eyes shut. Their hands were clasped together in front of them and their mouth was partly agape, as though they were speaking. Beneath the statue there was an altar big enough for one or two people to kneel at.

Dijonay stepped ahead of the two and stared up at the statue in wonder. "This is..." She took steady steps in the direction of the large sculpture until she was standing before the altar. Mekial was close behind her but Link lingered behind. Still staring at the artwork before her, Dijonay placed her lance upon the altar. "It's still intact..."

She lifted her eyes from the communion table to the sculpture's perfectly smooth face and its delicate, perfectly detailed features. One would almost believe that it were a real human sealed in stone.

"The magic of the King's sorcerers must still be in effect. This room was like a chamber of worship open to the King and his servants alike. The sorcerers cast a spell on this sacred room, only wanting it to remain intact no matter what happened..."

She trailed off and fell silent, her eyes now cast to the floor and her brow furrowed as her mind linked some of her thoughts together. "This magic..."

A sudden feeling of dread came over her as she came to a realization and she turned to face the others. Her voice came out hoarse as she whispered her next few words: _"The magic is still is still intact!"_


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

Mekial, momentarily stunned by the Governess's look of terror did not react immediately. Link's mind had barely tried to register the meaning behind the young girl's panic when the rumbling from before was heard again.

This time it lasted merely a few seconds before the wall on the right side of the room was blown to smithereens. Standing upon the rubble were three beings, easily seen as larger than human or any animal.

The three creatures each held a different weapon: one held a flail, one an ax and the last carried a thick long sword. Each creature was encased in thick, pitch-black armor from head to toe, making their true size difficult to figure out. The three monsters each took a step forward and the ground trembled with their combined weight.

Dijonay snatched her lance up from the table and gripped it in both hands, its point facing their new adversaries and her knees slightly bent. Link drew his sword and shield and Mekial pushed his cloak back over his shoulders to free his arms. As the monsters took another step forward the ground shook again and the three stumbled a little before quickly regaining their balance.

"Dijonay, what are those things?" Mekial shouted to her over his shoulder.

"They're Golems," she answered. The Golem on the far left started to swing its flail over its head. "Ages ago, the King ordered his magic wielders to create special guards for the Palace so that, years from then when they were all gone, if someone tried to break in and take something, the guards would be able to dispose of them and thus preserve anything that is in the Palace. But the books that I read dubbed it a legend or simply a myth. I too believed that it was nothing but folklore or that, if the Golems did exist, they were destroyed in the Great Flood..."

"So then the rumbling that we kept hearing was made by these things running around trying to find us?" Link asked as the Golems began to take slow, advancing steps in their direction.

"That is very likely."

The ground continued to shake as the giants approached, making standing much more difficult than it had to be. Link put away his weapons and reached into the pouch hanging from his belt. From it he retrieved a bomb, an arrow and his bow. With the ground still vibrating beneath his feet, Link worked to attach the bomb to the arrow—the bomb, as always, lit of its own accord.

Link adjusted the bomb-arrow into his bow and aimed it at the Golems. He then let the arrow soar from his bowstring and the aerial explosive erupted in a fiery explosion at the feet of the monsters, concealing them in a swirling cloud of black, ashy mist.

However, even before the remains of the dust cloud parted, the ground continued to tremble, informing the small party that the Golems' movement had not even been slowed. This information was confirmed when the creatures emerged from the smoke, their armor unscathed.

Mekial raised his two first fingers above his head, chanting so quickly that the syllables that spilled off of his tongue sounded like nothing more than a dull murmur. From the one hand that was cupped before him came a spark of orange-yellow light that ignited into a ball of fire when the chant was finished.

It swirled around the boy's body and floated above the fingers extended over his head, growing larger in size until its proportions had grown to the size of a miniature wagon. Mekial then swept his fingers towards the Golems and the ball of fire rushed in the direction he pointed in, wind swiping small flames behind it as it moved.

It crashed into the Golem in the center of the group and erupted into a wild fury of flames that dispersed and engulfed the other two armored beings. The light of the spell dazzled the room in its brightness and Link and the others turned their heads away to avoid being blinded.

Mekial had pulled his cloak over his eyes and turned away; once he felt the heat of the fireball slowly begin to decrease, he lowered his makeshift shield. His eyes adjusted to the normal, dimmer lighting of the room as the flames extinguished and again the rumbling in the floor resumed.

Mekial let out a short grunt of surprise when he laid eyes on the Golems walking forward, again unharmed. The young sorcerer faced the two behind him.

"Yeah, we should run," he stated.

Stuffing his bow back into his pouch, Link nodded. "I'd say that's a good idea."

The three twisted to face the opposite direction and broke into a run. The ground began to rumble at a quicker speed only just as the three had turned and Link stole a peek over his shoulder to find out why.

Immediately, he wished he hadn't: the Golems had also picked up speed and for their large size they were considerably fast. Their rumbling footsteps shook the very foundation of the Palace as they gave chase to the small party that was sprinting towards the connected corridor.

"Those things are huge!" Mekial shouted, his cloak flapping behind him as he ran ahead of the group. He glanced over his shoulder and his heart leaped in his chest when he spotted the Golems gaining on them. Their heavy steps matched the pattern of the rumbling that he and his allies had heard earlier in their journey through Talis. "But they run so fast!"

The three hotfooted through the entrance room, forcing all of their attention on the hallway across from them rather than on the guards that were gaining on them. They passed by a number of doorways, stairwells and staircases until Dijonay finally skidded around a left turn into a flight of steps that spiraled to the building's lower floors. Link and Mekial glided down the stone stairs close behind her, all of them skipping over two or three steps at a time.

The rumbling in the building suddenly died to a humming silence, leaving the sound of the three's panting breath the only noise that they heard. Yet they continued down the stairs, unwilling to peer behind them to see if they were truly alone. To their misfortune, their moment of silence did not last and there came the sound of an explosion somewhere at the head of the spiral stairs—large slabs of rock tumbled down the steps after the three seconds later.

Link and the others could not see the reason for why the rocks were falling down the stairs, but when they heard the rumbling again their panicking thoughts could only imagine what had happened. In truth, the Golems had crashed through the doorway of the staircase, too large to fit through it, and had utterly destroyed its frame, causing stones and debris to spill down the steps before them.

The Golem at the head of the group had landed first and all of its weight fell through the floor. Its two companions fell after it and the stairs that they had fallen through fell in upon themselves as well. In a matter of seconds, the entire flight of steps was collapsing, four stairs at a time. This reaction quickly made its way to the feet of Link and his allies just before the previously tumbling slabs of rock could hit them; before they could realize it, they too were falling in to the depths of Talis.

The Golems had crashed into the floor below, causing it too to crumble in its old age. This resulted in Link and the others having to fall even further. Dijonay's scream rent the air, sounding louder than the breaking floor. Her voice grew hoarse and she held her breath and pressed the end of her skirt close to her legs to keep it from revealing her undergarments. Link had gained control of his shout of terror and had reached into his pouch again, this time pulling out one of his Clawshots.

"Mekial—the Governess!" he cried out above the boy's yell.

The young sorcerer managed to nod and groped for Dijonay's hand. The young Arkanian noticed his hand with his fingers extended towards her and she reached out and gripped his arm. Link, with his free hand, grabbed Mekial's opposite arm and then aimed his Clawshot above them. He clicked the button within its handle and the metal claw at the end of the weapon shot out, clinking and clanking as its metal chain rattled out after it.

The silver claw shot out of the hole in the floor above them, extending nearly ten feet higher above the small gap. Yet as it fired into the air, it did not latch on to anything. It was not until the Clawshot began to retract did it clumsily cling to an empty torch holder on the wall.

Link's arm felt as though it would snap in two when the Clawshot clutched the metal torch holder. Having been falling only a moment before, the feeling of coming to an abrupt halt jolted through his entire body.

He gritted his teeth as the chain of the Clawshot swung forward, tugging him and the two below him towards the wall at high speed. Link quickly brought up his knees and his feet slammed into the stony wall. He swung the arm that was clutching Mekial away from the wall in order to spare the two below him of crashing into it.

The movement worked: the Prime Minister of Arkania and her Guard only bumped into the wall enough for them to emit a small 'oof'.

Not too soon after Mekial said this, he added, "Dijonay, you're heavy..."

Dijonay whimpered below him and squeezed his hand. Her legs dangled uselessly below her and her opposite hand was still clutching her lance, preventing her from using it to reinforce her grip with Mekial's arm. She gasped as a small stone bounced down from the recent collapsing action and fell past her cheek; she did not hear any sound of it landing anywhere.

Link pressed and held the button within the Clawshot's handle and slowly the chain began to wind itself up, pulling Link and the others higher as it did so. Once the three had reached the floor above, Link tossed both Mekial and Dijonay onto the platform of land. When the Clawshot's chain was no longer than a foot, Link swung his feet in the direction of his allies and jumped upon the platform, pulling the Clawshot with him.

Dijonay had sat upon the ground, her face turned to the floor. Her lungs were heaving for air, her mind was still spinning in panic and her hands were still trembling. She forced the shaking extensions of her hand to curl around her lance and she took a slow, shaky breath. Her still excited nerves did not benefit her when she tried to stand. Once her weight was firmly balanced upon her legs she discovered that her body was still vaguely shivering.

Mekial also clambered to his feet as shaky as the Governess was. He was panting and his heart was racing; he closed his mouth and swallowed.

Behind the three was the large gap in the floor where the Golems had fallen, forbidding them from returning to the upper floors of the ancient Palace. The staircase on the other side of the hole was still intact as far as three ascending steps; from there on there was nothing but half steps attached to the wall or no steps at all.

Along the wall beside them there were more torch holders, though each of them were empty. The hall that they were in was curved and due to its lack of lighting and being lower in the castle it was the darkest of the places that the three had passed through.

"Mekial, some light," Dijonay ordered. Soundlessly, Mekial raised his hand at half-mast and whispered something undecipherable under his breath. Something around his raised hand flickered, as though a light were being turned on and off, and a white light appeared, floating above the palm of his hand. Mekial raised his hand higher and the ball of light rose above the small party, illuminating the dark corridor.

Dijonay then began to round the corner of the hallway, the sphere of light bobbing in the air above her. She and the two in her wake spiraled to the other side of the hall and descended a small set of stairs. At the bottom of the steps there was a doorway carved out of the wall.

Within this dark doorway was a wooden door, a design painted in calligraphic gold lines around its brass handle. Mekial extinguished the light orb above them, as on either side of the doorway there was a lit torch. Link cast a dubious glance at them but gave them no more attention than that.

Dijonay approached the door and reached out for the handle. However, upon closer examination she found that the dark door was actually partway open, though not wide enough for her to see into the room; a small sliver of the next area was all that she could see.

She gave a fleeting glance to the two behind her and then gently pushed the door open. The door swung open noiselessly and ceased widening the entrance just before it could touch the wall behind it.

The room was moderately sized with a circular table off to the left side. Upon it there were wax candles, each waned a little bit below halfway. There were no chairs at this table, nor anywhere else in the room, nor were there any other objects that could be used as a seat.

Further in the back of the room there was a circle drawn upon the floor with three rings, each one larger than the last. Within each ring were mysterious symbols; a spell language that Mekial began to read from his spot on the opposite end of the room.

He squinted and furrowed his brow. "A lock..."

A few shelves were upon the wall on the right side of the room, bearing nothing but cracked bottles. Upon the wall that was just in front of the circle on the ground hung a mahogany carpet embroidered with the crest of the Arkanian Royal Family.

After a moment of examining the room from a distance, the band dispersed to look at everything from a closer view. Mekial jogged towards the white circle and continued his reading, tracing over certain letters with his finger. Dijonay approached the table and there she laid eyes on a small pile of ashes. She leaned her lance against the table and sifted through the ashes; amongst the pile she found small shreds of blank paper.

Link ambled around Mekial and placed a hand upon the carpet hanging from the wall. He ran his fingers along the bumpy texture of the carpet, barely pulling his hand back when he felt the support of the wall behind the rug vanish over a certain area.

Link returned his hand to that spot on the carpet and gently pressed against it, finding his hand pushing the carpet through a hole in the wall.

"What..."

He gripped the end of the carpet and pulled the decorative item aside, revealing a square entryway in the wall. He called both Mekial and Dijonay and the two of them looked up from what they were examining. Curiously they approached the unlit passageway though they did not enter it.

"This room was for the sorcerers," Dijonay said softly, staring down the dark tunnel in thought. "Though it does not seem nearly large enough to contain everything that they needed. This hidden passage probably leads to their true room." She then frowned. "Though, with the high intelligence of those sorcerers, I should think that they would use an actual barrier spell to prevent any unwanted visitors from going into that room, rather than hiding the door with a carpet..."

"They did."

Both Link and Dijonay dropped their gaze to look to Mekial.

"They did use a barrier spell—this Crendilum was a lock," the boy continued, pointing to the white circle beneath their feet. "But locks that protect entrances only have two rings; this one has three. The third ring is only added when someone's unlocking the barrier. Normally, if a sorcerer needed to get into the room that was magically locked, he would draw the extra ring and then would erase it when he was done with whatever he was doing in the room. Magically, of course," he added. "But this ring wasn't erased." Mekial tapped the edge of the third ring with his foot. "And it's fresh."

Link looked back into the dark tunnel, his eyes narrowed.

_The lit torches.._.

"Then it is safe to assume that we are not alone here," Dijonay declared. "Let's go on carefully."

Link took the lead of the group and behind him were Mekial, and then Dijonay. Mekial did not create another orb of light to guide their way in order to keep their presence a secret to their possible company. The three followed the dark tunnel silently, the sound of their feet tapping against the stone floor the only sign that they were not sealed in silence. They emerged on the opposite end of the tunnel, the lighting no better than the previous room, and stared at its vastness.

Two tall, wide marble pillars stood on either side of the tunnel that Link and his company had exited. The floor was smooth and tiled and gave the room a more vacant feel, as there was no furniture in its center. On the left and right side of the room were rows of small bookcases filled with organized and whole books. Placed on a large carpet somewhere on the right side of the room were six or seven rectangular tables, which each owned five chairs on either side.

On the other end of the room was a large stained glass window, light shining through it from an unknown source. Beneath this window were four empty plinths situated in a way that formed a large square. Upon seeing something standing in the square made by the plinths, Link and the two behind him tensed.

It was a man.

His back was facing them and his head was bowed as he examined something. His hands were raised, as though he were holding an item and the cloak that fell over his body also covered his large shoulder pads, making his shoulders appear broader than normal.

Suddenly, he flinched and his head rose; he gradually turned, his cloak swishing around his ankles as he did so. The man's dark, slim eyes dropped to see the three on the opposite end of the room, his emotionless stare appearing more menacing beneath the shadows cast by his short, dark sable hair. One hand was hanging loosely by his side while the other was raised, cupping a glowing object.

Upon looking at the item, Link suddenly felt imbued with strength and his hand tingled familiarly. He peered closer and heard the Governess abruptly inhale.

Floating above the man's raised palm was a small, golden triangle, its bottom half uneven and chipped to show that it was a piece of a whole.

"That's...it..." The words barely escaped Dijonay's lips and she stared in awe at the Triforce shard in the man's hand. "It's just like my vision..."

Wordlessly, the man faced away from them again and retrieved a velvet pouch that was hanging from his belt. He opened it—an invisible, magical aura floating out of it as its dark innards were revealed—and he placed the shard of the Triforce of Power in it by swinging the small bag under it. He then tied the pouch shut and replaced it upon his belt before facing the three once more.

"You're in my way." His voice was low and echoed throughout the chamber.

The words had been out of his mouth for barely a second when a burst of wind emitted from him, seemingly out of nowhere, and blew towards Link and his company, knocking over bookcases and overturning tables. Mekial sprinted to the front of the group and held his hands outstretched, magic accumulating in his fingers.

A clear mist emitted from his extended fingertips, then from the palms of his hands came a burst of smoke; the magical air shot out of the boy's hands and formed a barrier in front of him and his allies, blocking the wind magic that had been fired at them, and the air that the man had aimed at them smashed into Mekial's barrier and split to the right and left, knocking books out of shelves and blowing dust into the air.

When the dust had settled Mekial lowered his hands and the barrier fell away like shattered glass. The man's face had remained expressionless the entire time and he did not react nor make a remark when he found that his enemies were still standing.

"The item that you have taken," Dijonay started, stepping forward. Her voice carried across the room, echoing as loudly as his voice had. "Why do you want it?"

The man did not respond immediately. "I don't think that's really anything you need to be worrying about..." If his eyes could get any narrower, they did when he added, "...Arkanian Prime Minister."

Dijonay appeared undaunted by his addressing her by her title. "I see that you know who I am. Then I may have the right to inquire: who are you? How did you know where this place is?"

"A subordinate if you must know," the man replied casually. "And as for how I knew where this place was...the one I work for has his ways of..._eavesdropping._"

Dijonay paused. The way he had spoken the last word disturbed her.

She briefly wondered if the man's master had overheard her speaking to Link about the location of Talis. But Link was the only person with her when she had told him; her Advising Monitor was absent, as were the soldiers outside. Besides that, the only ones who were within the Estate that knew where Talis was, was Mekial. She looked to the young sorcerer before her—he could not have told anyone. She clenched her lance in silent frustration and finally formed her curious thoughts into a question.

"What do you mean?"

The man did not answer, his stoic appearance hiding his inward chuckling at her confusion.

"I don't need to explain myself," he said. "But now I'll need to tell you again: you're in my way. And if you don't move, then I'll move you." The man reached behind him, brushing aside his thick cape and gripped the handle of a weapon. He pulled the artillery out of its sheath; its blade glinted in the multi-colored light of the stained glass window and it was not until he lowered the weapon was it identified as a double-headed ax. The man pointed it in the direction of the three, easily holding it steady with one hand.

In reply, Link drew his sword and shield; Mekial brushed his cloak over his shoulders; Dijonay bent into her fighting stance.

The man studied each of their postures silently. "Stubborn, I see..." He lifted his ax and gripped it with both hands then held it off to his side. He hopped down the three stairs that were attached the platform he was standing on and charged forward, his eyes locked on the one in front of the group.

Mekial's lips had already started to form the words of his next spell when he saw the man charging towards him. When he had reached the middle of his spell, Link had jumped in between him and his approaching enemy, raising his shield to block the swing of the man's ax.

Taking advantage of Link's protection, Mekial swiftly continued his chant and raised one hand in the air. The ground rumbled briefly below the man's feet and then the tiled floor cracked and split to allow a stalagmite to shoot out of it.

The man used the force he was applying on Link's shield to push backward and he narrowly avoided being hit in the chest with the point of the column. He rethought his strategy then leaped to his left, circling around Link with that single bound. As soon as his feet touched the ground he lunged to his right, his ax poised again to strike at Mekial.

Again the young sorcerer raised his hand, sparks of something white flickering between his fingertips. He shouted out the last word of his short spell in his excitement and zigzagging lights fired out of his fingers, hitting the man square in the chest. He fell back into a fallen bookcase, legs flailing and partly stunned by the jolt of electricity that had shot through his body. Though he was not severely wounded.

He rolled out of the bookcase just as Dijonay's lance came flying at him and instead of hitting him the weapon's sharp point stabbed into the wood of the bookcase. Dijonay withdrew her lance and jumped back just as the man's ax came swinging down, aiming to strike her dead. The man quickly gained control of his weapon's momentum as it cut through thin air and from its downward position he swung it back upwards, this time trying to cut across the Governess's midsection.

Again and again she jumped out of the way and again and again the man swiped his ax at her, moving with such grace that one would have thought he were attacking with a slim sword rather than a heavy ax.

Mekial and Link took it upon themselves to strike the man while he was preoccupied with attacking the Prime Minister. Mekial fired spells of every element at the axeman and even used a few levitation spells in order to throw various furniture and stones at him. Amidst all the throwing, Link moved in and swiped his sword at the man just as he was ducking beneath another projectile.

However the man was far too lithe to have been hit.

He had ducked beneath a bookshelf and, upon both seeing Link's sword and hearing him yell with his ferocious attack, the man jumped backward. As he was in the air Mekial had pitched a plinth at him and, to the boy's despair, he back flipped over it and landed before a heap of earlier thrown items.

As he recovered Link and his allies regrouped again: Link in front, Mekial not too far behind and Dijonay standing a few feet off to his right.

As the man rose, Link noticed something dangling on his waist: the velvet bag. Acting on sheer instinct, Link whipped out his Clawshot and fired it at the pouch. The man spotted the incoming metal claw only just in time and hopped to his right, narrowly avoiding it. As soon as the claw had retracted Link tossed it back into his pouch, somewhat disappointed that his straightforward attack had not worked.

The axeman lunged forward again, ax by his side and held with both hands, this time looking towards Link. Just as the man's ax was raised Link brought up his shield; the force of the man's impact on his metal barrier shook through his hands, sending the vibrations through his entire body. Nevertheless, Link kept his ground, his feet sliding back little by little with each attack of the man's ax.

Mekial jumped into action: he once again started to chant the words of his next spell, his eyes closed as he concentrated. A steady breeze began to blow upon the head of his adversary, cool and light. The man did not notice the breeze's increasing strength until his movements became slower; every upward swing was resisting a downward push.

The wind that blew around him then erupted into a powerful cyclone of wind when Mekial had finished speaking, pushing away any small stones or half broken bookshelves and books. Link backed away from the small windstorm, his arm up to block the speeding air from blowing into his eyes.

The man fell upon one knee, one arm raised to hopefully block his head from the air that came rushing down and around him. Dijonay raised an arm over her face and approached the cyclone, her clothing blowing wildly around her body.

She crouched and circled around the centered windstorm at a safe distance, the pressure of the wind pressing into her side and granting her lungs too much air. Yet she continued on her path until she was behind the cyclone. Once on its backside, Dijonay crouched low to the ground, her head bowed and turned away from the rapid winds.

A low hum was then heard over the whir of Mekial's spell. It wasn't until the hum was finished with the shouting of a foreign word was it deciphered as the man's voice casting another spell. When he finished, the raging winds rose in strength and then fell away, nothing but a simple circle of dying wind around the man's ankles to show that they had once existed.

Dijonay pressed her lips together as the power of the cyclone briefly increased before it steadily lessened. Her hair fell down from its previous upward movement and a calm breeze blew around her legs, sending a shiver up her spine. She opened one of her eyes and peered at the crouching figure of the man—he had not noticed her yet.

Dijonay slowly rose from her squat and crept forward silently, holding back a wince whenever her foot would brush through a small pile of dirt or shove aside a small pebble. She walked with her back bent and her lance held forward, its point coming closer and closer to her adversary. Her eyes were wide and locked unflinchingly on the velvet pouch upon the man's waist.

He rose, using his ax to support him as he did so. Without giving him a chance to look for her, Dijonay thrust her lance forward and it successfully caught in a loop in the string that held the velvet bag to the man's belt. Her joy was inexplicit—shown with only a gleam in her eye.

Upon feeling something move against his side the man looked down. A grunt of anger issued from behind his grit teeth when he saw the point of Dijonay's lance on his side. Before he could bring his opposite arm in and snatch the pouch off the Governess's weapon, she had wrenched her artillery backward, taking the velvet pouch with it.

The man whipped around as Dijonay retrieved the bag from the head of her weapon. He stretched out a hand but she had shouted Link's name and tossed the pouch over the man's head. He cursed and reached out to catch it, his fingers grazing the bag's bottom before it soared out of reach.

Link extended his hand and caught the velvet bag in his palm. As soon as the bottom of the pouch touched him he could feel the warmth of the Triforce shard. He felt empowered, imbued with strength, and his fingers closed over the small bag. Yet at the same time, his mind was hit with a flood of memories of his previous adventure: of his battle in Eldin Province, of feeling the Master Sword's blade sheath itself in Ganondorf's chest, of seeing the Evil King breathe his last...

The heat of the Triforce shard rose to a high temperature and he felt a wave of fury course through him, boiling to the point where he thought he might turn his head upwards and scream. He wanted to break something, hurt someone, _kill_ someone...

Though he did not know why.

The anger felt unearthly and distant, as though it were not a complete part of Link but at the same time it was. His left hand tingled annoyingly and he felt the spontaneous emotion slowly flush out of him—with it, his urges of inflicting pain. He put the bag away in his pouch and his head cleared immediately, almost as though disconnecting his touch with the shard was all he needed in order to get his thinking back in order. As he did he looked up to see the man's hand closed around Dijonay's neck.

Her toes were barely scraping the ground and her lance lay forsaken below her. Faint and hoarse whimpers slipped from between her slightly parted lips and her hands remained firmly clasped around his, attempting to pry his hand away and free her air passage. The man's lips parted to speak, his voice nothing more than a murmur. The chamber's cavernous walls could not echo it back to Link but Mekial understood every word.

"_Prime Minister_!" he nearly shrieked. Dijonay opened her scrunched eyes and tried to look at her Guard, though her mind refocused upon struggling for air and she closed her eyes again.

Mekial held his hand outward and a black, misty cloud coiled, snaked and swam in the air towards the man's face.

But a column of white light erupted around him, enveloping both him and Dijonay. Its brightness illuminated the entire room and both Link and Mekial turned their heads away to keep their ability of sight. Mekial's spell was instantly washed away in the light.

When the brightness had dimmed, both the man and Dijonay were gone.


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

Link stared at the spot where their earlier enemy and the Prime Minister of Arkania had once been in. Mekial too stared, though more in disbelief than astonishment as Link was.

As far as he knew, warping was one of the most difficult spells one could cast and if one did not have the right amount of strength they could end up leaving behind a few limbs or reappear in their new location with misplaced body parts. The very idea made Mekial tremble.

Upon seeing his earlier enemy vanish on the spot with the one whom he was supposed to be protecting, Mekial was filled with fresh panic. Worried questions circled around in his mind: what if that man had screwed up? What if Dijonay had lost a body part? What if she was disproportioned? What if he could not find out where they had gone?

He spun on his heel and surveyed the rest of the room, as though expecting to see the man trying to make a secret escape with the Prime Minister tucked under his arm. However there was no such sight.

Link, too, was looking around the room of the ancient sorcerers, though he was already partly convinced that the two were no longer in there, let alone the Palace. His gaze then dropped to the panicking boy before him then moved towards the tunnel that they had come through earlier.

"We should head back to the surface," he said, his voice cutting through the tense silence. Mekial looked to the tunnel as well, his brow creased with concern. He then blinked as his mind suddenly recalled something and he turned to Link.

"She gave you the shard, didn't she?"

In response, Link took the velvet bag out of the pouch on his side and showed it to him—briefly his left hand tingled. Mekial nodded and jogged down the tunnel as Link put the bag away. He followed closely behind the young sorcerer, making sure to not get too close as to get hit with the boy's billowing cloak.

The two jogged through the smaller room of the ancient sorcerers, eyes unwavering, and circled around the spiraling hall outside. Upon reaching the hole where the Golems had fallen through earlier, Mekial stepped further ahead of Link and punched both of his fists into the wall. At first Link thought that the boy's frustration had gotten the best of him, but when he saw the stones along the wall ripple mysteriously, he second-guessed himself.

Stone after stone in the wall trembled and shook as Mekial's magic flowed through them, each of them following a wavy path that sloped to the gap's opposite end. Seeing that the magic had made it through, Mekial pulled his fists away from the wall, his hands still firmly clenched as he withdrew them as though he were pulling on something. As he drew his hands away, along the path that the vibrating stones had followed, slabs of rock jutted out of the wall, forming an uneven path to the platform opposite them.

Mekial unfurled his fingers and hopped on to the first jutting rock, sidling along the wall as he moved across and Link followed suit. The two safely reached the end of Mekial's small bridge and approached the broken staircase. As they came closer, the last of a stair crumbled and fell.

Here, Mekial slapped the walls on either side of him and he dug his fingertips into the dirt-filled spaces between the stones. Rocks rumbled along an ascending path up the empty, spiral staircase and came to a halt at the door frame somewhere above.

Then a large, flat stone shot out of the wall on Mekial's right and crashed into the wall across from it. Stones that Mekial and Link could not see fell from beneath this magical step, down into the black abyss below. Mekial stepped upon the stone; it was firm and easily held his weight. Another slab of rock flew out of the wall on the left and crashed into the wall on the right, a couple inches higher than the previous step that the young sorcerer had made. Again another stone came from the right, then the left, and this pattern continued until there were a set of perfectly even steps leading to the upper floor.

Link and Mekial sprinted up the staircase; Mekial having been the first to the top, he was the first to suddenly lose his footing and fall into a large indentation in the floor. The boy lifted his head and shook it, shaking away the numbness he had felt in his face.

Link hopped up the last few steps and saw that what Mekial had fallen into was a large footprint. Around its edges were small cracks in the ground, looking like spider webs carved into the floor. He presumed the print had belonged to the Golems.

Mekial scrambled to his feet and jogged down the hallway towards what he hoped was the foyer of the large Palace. Fortunately, his sense of direction was proved reliable and Mekial's feet slowed his pace as he laid eyes upon the room that bore the crest of the Arkanian Royal Family upon its floor.

He and Link then approached the drowning staircase. As their feet came closer to the water, Mekial produced a barrier to form over them. The two then descended the staircase and the ocean's water closed in around them, darkening their world and distorting it with its waves.

Once the two had exited the Palace, Mekial created an orb of light, much like the one he had used before, and it floated above their heads to light their dark path.

They climbed over ledges and slipped around reefs or tall wavering strips of seaweed, making their way towards the sloping hill of sand that would lead to their exit. Though with the distorted views around them locating said hill was harder than it seemed. After trekking through a multitude of other deep sea obstacles, the two began to climb up the steeping hill of underwater soil.

The waves parted as Mekial's barrier arose above the ocean's surface, circling and swishing around their force field. Once the two had completely exited the ocean, the waves crashed together, like hands that longed to touch again. At the head of the staircase Link spotted a dark shadow cast on the wall; he tensed, as did Mekial.

However when the two had run to the top of the stairs they found that the shadowy figure was actually the form of Link's previously borrowed horse. He and the young magic-wielder's shoulders slightly slumped and Link took hold of the steed's reins.

The two ambled through the nearby alley and passed through the slums of Peluma. The noise of their footsteps patting against the ground drifted to their ears, informing them that the ground was parched and dry. The soil of the slums was like a cracked desert, giving no impression of promising to yield any form of a harvest.

Mekial and Link tread silently through the alleys, weaving around sharp turns or ducking under opened windows and clotheslines. They soon reached the main road of the marketplace and here they peered up and down the road, half-expecting to see someone—whether it be a soldier or an innocent civilian—walking there. And yet, they saw no one.

Mekial's shoulders sagged and a pitiful moan escaped his lips. He gazed up the marketplace's street in deep sorrow, wondering and hoping that the Prime Minister of Arkania was at least safe and sound. His brown eyes roved over the empty streets, his cloak blowing around his ankles as a steady breeze blew past.

Ramone whinnied and stamped his hoof, emitting a cloud of dirt to rise and swirl about an inch off the ground. Link turned his head to steady the steed and as he lifted his hand to pat the animal's muzzle, his eyes caught sight of a silhouetted figure further down the road in the direction of the harbor.

Link peered down the road to see and was able to make out the dark form of one person. However, upon closer examination, Link noticed a number of details: the being's shoulders were hunched and his arms were close together, one holding the other as though it were wounded, and he jogged awkwardly towards the street. The being stumbled a number of times as he ran until he finally collapsed at the end of the road.

Mekial turned and stared at the spot that Link had once been standing in. His eyes quickly shot up to the road and there was the Hylian, rushing towards the fallen person. Upon seeing the boy upon the ground, Mekial too approached at a fast walk.

The boy's hair clung to his sweaty, down-turned face. Even though he lay there, vulnerable and weak, one of his hands remained clutched around the opposite arm. When Link had drawn closer he could see that the boy's fingers were wrapped around a bleeding wound.

The crimson blood, a dark red-violet in the unlit night, was covering most of the boy's arm, making it look as though his limb were naturally that color. The only thing that revealed that that was not true was the sight of the blood spreading like a web down the lower half of his forearm into his palm. His breathing was raspy and shaky; his entire body seemed to tremble with each inhale.

Link fell to his knees before the boy and gently turned him over. The child's hair was askew across his face, leaving only his open mouth visible. Link lightly brushed the hair of the boy out of his face and his eyes widened briefly.

It was Darwin, the slave of Captain Zorr.

But...what could have happened to have resulted in the wound upon his left arm?

Darwin's hand fell away from his wound, revealing the gash that was responsible for the bleeding: it was a slash that went across the entire front of his arm, thick and deep until it nearly reached the back of his arm. From this, Link gathered that the boy had fallen away from the blow before it had the chance to lop his entire arm off.

The Hylian's dark eyes opened slightly and they stared at Link, blurry behind the small tears of pain that filled them. His lips closed and he groaned—a small and undecipherable syllable slurred out of the pained noise. Darwin's chest abruptly heaved and he coughed, nearly rolling out of Link's hold.

Link tightened his grip on the boy. "Easy..." He placed the boy on the ground as softly as possible and ripped off a long strip of clothing from his shirt. With this he hurriedly tied the wound around the boy's arm, lessening the pain and decreasing the amount of escaping blood.

Darwin yelped as Link tightened the knot. His head then lolled to the side and he returned to his former action of breathing. Mekial had been standing by, watching wordlessly, until he had upturned his head and looked towards the harbor.

Gasping he stared at a specific dock, his eyes locked upon it, memorizing its location. The sound of Link rising attracted his attention and he turned back to see the Hyrulean now standing with the boy in his arms.

"It's a deep cut," he informed the sorcerer. "I'm going to take him to a doctor."

"But doctors won't see a Hylian," Mekial pointed out, noting Darwin's pointy ears. His eyes flicked to the dock before locking upon Link's face again. "I don't even think there's a doctor in another town that would take him."

"Then I'll take him somewhere that will," Link answered firmly, making his way back towards Ramone. "Come with me."

"No."

Link turned to look down to the small, defiant boy. "Why not? You're just a kid; you can't stay out here by yourself."

"I'm not just a kid! I'm the Prime Minister's Guard." Mekial had lowered his voice with the last sentence, hoping to not attract attention from any possibly awake Peluman residents. "I'm such a great sorcerer that they picked me, a kid, to guard the Governess. I can take care of myself."

"Well, fine. But what do you plan on doing?" Darwin's heavy breathing drifted to his ears and Link planned to keep the conversation short.

"To that ship." Mekial pointed behind him to a ship slightly swaying in the rolling oceanic waves. "I saw something—or someone—and I think it may be the Governess. I'm going to go and find out."

Link curtly nodded and spun around, jogging back towards his borrowed steed. He mounted the horse easily despite the baggage that he carried in his arms and he settled Darwin in front of him. He moved the boy's hand so that it grasped at the bandaged wound. Glancing at it Link found that the cloth would not last—already there was a dark stain upon it.

"Keep your hand on it and hold on," Link ordered. He glanced back to the harbor to see that Mekial had already started running towards the ship he had indicated. Turning his head away, Link kicked the sides of his steed, directing him to the exit of Peluma that led to the fields.

Darwin's head bobbled and bounced from side to side with each heavy gallop of Ramone's hooves. His wounded arm hung uselessly by his side; he tried to move it, to adjust its position so that he would be more comfortable, but just moving the heavily bleeding limb caused him to gasp with a fresh surge of pain. And so he left his arm as it was, clutching the bandaged part of it with his opposite hand. His fingers were squeezing it so hard that his arm began to feel numb.

Or was it due to the blood loss?

Link kept close to the boy's small body, using the sides of his arms to keep him from sliding off the saddle. Now closer, Link could hear Darwin's greedy gasps for air—occasionally the child would grunt and shift in the seat, then would fall forward slightly and grasp his arm with a tighter grip.

Link kicked the sides of the steed again, willing him to run forward with immeasurable speed, willing him to arrive at Taranis in time for Darwin to be saved.

_Faster..._

Darwin fully fell forward, his face buried in the thick mane of the horse and he lay there, unmoving. Worriedly Link tugged on the reins, pulling Ramone to a full stop. The horse reared up on his hind legs and his neigh rippled from his breast, cutting through the tranquil night air. Once the horse had settled, pounding his hooves into the dirt and stamping them to steady himself, Link checked to see if Darwin was still alive.

He was—though his skin was beginning to pale. Drops of sweat were visible on his small face and his hair masked his closed eyes. Link removed the boy's hand from his arm to examine the cloth, finding that it was no longer the cream color that it was when he had first used it. The entire strip of clothing was a now a deep cherry color, damp when Link briefly brushed his fingers against it.

Panic overwhelmed him.

Before him was a small boy, probably barely over the age of thirteen, and he was dying right before his eyes. And Link could do nothing.

He did not know what to do. He was not a healer, a doctor, or any other sort of person that could aid in stopping the blood flowing from Darwin's forearm. Never before had he been forced to figure out a way to heal such an injury—the most that he had dealt with was nothing more than a scrape or a small cut on a finger. Those he had dealt with often as Malo and Colin of Ordon had constantly hurt themselves while trying to use a sword.

And then, though he did not exactly know how to officially heal the wound, Link's mind weaved together an idea that would at least delay the boy's demise. He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out his green tunic—it was clearly thicker than the cloth he had used previously.

Link barely flinched as he tore apart the sacred clothing. A long, thick scrap of green cloth fell into his lap and with this thick article of clothing Link began to wrap Darwin's wound. When done he tugged it into a knot securely—Darwin winced—and he kicked Ramone's sides again, urging him forward and keeping his eyes locked upon the grassy terrain before him, the only thing reminding him of his reason for being in such a rush being the shaky, slow breaths that Darwin took.

Ramone proved to be the fastest horse that Link had ever ridden upon: the roofs of Taranis began to come into view beneath the rolling hills of the Arkanian plains only minutes later. Ramone continued to gallop down the hill, his pace unchanging, and he did not slow down until Link had gently pulled on the reins when they had touched the soil of Taranis.

Link slid off the saddle quickly and pulled Darwin into his arms. He left Ramone where he was, figuring that the man who owned him would spot him and retrieve him. Link bolted towards the door of the Main House and tried the handle.  
Locked.

Why in the name of Hyrule would it be locked?

Link lifted his fist and banged upon the door, shouting for someone to open it. His cries echoed throughout the small community in the late night. In the surrounding homes some stirred in their sleep though did not move to see what Link's shouting was about. Finally, after what seemed like hours of pounding, Link heard the sound of the door handle click and twist—the door was pulled open. The one who had opened the door was Lemm.

"What's all this about, aye?" he muttered groggily, attempting to rub the sleep from his eyes. He stood there as Link spoke, rubbing his eyes excessively.

"This boy is dying—he needs medical help!" Link exclaimed, his breath short. He had not even realized that he had been panting.

"What...?" Lemm's bleary, wrinkled and shadowed eyes dropped to the bundle in Link's arms and he stared at the blood-caked arm of Darwin. Numbly he stepped aside, allowing Link entrance.

Once inside, Link looked up and down the hall, unsure as to where he should take the child. In the end, he decided upon taking Darwin to the living room on the right. As he moved for it, Lemm departed the Main House to retrieve the leader of Taranis as well as one of their doctors.

Link placed Darwin upon one of the couches in the room, propping his head against a pile of soft pillows. The boy's wounded arm Link lay across his stomach, still bleeding but not as heavily as before, and his head was turned to the backside of the couch, hidden behind his awry hair. Link found a chair to sit in and he sat in it.

And he waited.


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

Mekial shifted his weight to the side and smoothly hid behind a pile of evenly stacked crates. A man had disembarked the ship he had just been approaching, swords on his sides, and he now stood in front of the cargo bridge as though guarding it. Mekial peeked over one of the crates slowly, his eyes narrowed.

There was a wide patch of soil between him and the dock that the man was standing on, covering the span of the entire harbor. There were no obstacles to hide behind between he and the man and Mekial found this a disadvantage. He then disregarded the thought and his mind worked to piece together an idea that would allow him passage onto the ship.

One option was ambushing the man and forcing his way on board. However Mekial soon dismissed the idea—at that rate he would end up possibly fighting the entire crew and who knew how big it was. Another option that came to his mind was using a miscellaneous spell: invisibility.

That would work.

Mekial dodged out from behind the crates and came closer to the ship. Once he was around ten feet away from the dock he crouched low against the ground and his mind began to register the spell that he would need to cast upon himself. Fortunately the man had not noticed him.

The only spells that Mekial needed to verbalize were the ones that he used when he was attacking; anything else, such as a spell related to matter or element manipulation he did not need to speak.

This would prove to be an advantage—his invisibility spell he could only keep together for a certain period of time so he would need to start close to his enemy. His being this close now, if he had to speak, he would most likely give himself away.

Mekial closed his eyes and took a slow, calm breath that traveled throughout his entire nervous system, steadying his anxious heartbeat. His fingers dug into the dirt and his face twisted in concentration as he summoned the magical power within him.

He soon felt a tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers as well as the crown of his head. He exhaled slowly and with that release of breath his appearance began to fade away: first he was transparent, then he was gone.

The man standing before the cargo bridge planted his feet firmly on the dock with his arms crossed. His eyes stared out to the dark and uninhabited harbor darkly, looking this way and that, waiting to see something out of the norm. For an instant he thought he saw something moving somewhere before him but, seeing nothing but darkness, he dismissed the sight.

Then, something brushed past his arm.

He jumped and his hand flew to the handle of one of his twin swords. He drew it and pointed it in front of him, his feet stepping in a circle, his eyes darting about warily. Spotting nothing, he sheathed his weapon and returned to his previous stance.

Mekial fell on his bottom against the side of the ship's railing once he had boarded. Seeing that there was no one in sight he exhaled sharply through his nostrils and the cloud of magic over him fell, letting his appearance become visible as though a curtain had fallen away from him.

He sat there, steadying his breathing as he regained the strength he had used to maintain his spell. He closed his eyes and rested the back of his head against the railing, the image of the ship's name carved into its side implanted on the back of his eyelids: _Maysee._

Mekial took one more slow, quiet breath and opened his eyes. He then scanned over the deck, searching for a sort of door that would lead him further within the sea vessel. Though he had never been aboard a ship before, he could recall from the glances he had given to books about ships where some of the rooms were located. However, of those rooms Mekial was unsure as to which one the being he had seen earlier had entered.

The person's silhouette had looked remarkably like Dijonay's, though whether or not it had truly been her was something that he had not been able to tell. But from where he had been standing it had looked as though she had been struggling against someone's grip. The sight had lessened Mekial's worry only a little; if he were right, Dijonay was still alive.

And now he had to make sure that that remained so.

His eyes locked upon a dark, square-shaped piece of wood upon the floor. Mekial peeked around the railing to see where the guard was standing before he moved closer to it. Once he had advanced towards the noticeable spot on the deck Mekial discovered that the 'piece of wood' he had seen was actually a trapdoor.

Carefully, the boy tucked his fingers beneath the door and lifted it. To his relief it was soundless as it swung ajar, revealing a staircase that descended into darkness. Mekial gave one last glance to the man standing on the other side of the cargo bridge before he glided down this set of stairs, closing the trapdoor after him.

Below decks Mekial's range of vision was cut short by the surrounding darkness. The only lights that guided his footsteps down what appeared to him as a hallway were the lanterns that were aligned along the walls. His boots _thunk_ed against the sanded, wooden floor and he turned his head this way and that, occasionally casting a fleeting glance to doors that blocked a muffled noise behind them. Though he stopped at none of them, guessing that the noises that he heard were not related to the Prime Minister in any way.

At the end of the hall Mekial came upon a descending staircase. He eyed it for a moment, debating whether or not he should take it, but then decided against it and returned the way that he had come.

When he had reached the halfway point of his retracing his steps, he heard footsteps descending from the quarterdeck. He lifted his eyes from his staring at the floor and froze in his tracks when he saw feet stepping down the staircase from the trapdoor. He gave a slow exhale, willing the magic inside of him to course throughout his veins and distort his appearance. His fingertips satisfactorily tingled; he was vanishing.

When the man—recognized as the guard from the cargo bridge—walked passed him he did not notice him. Mekial had to abruptly leap to his right when the man came closer so as to avoid being bumped into. The young sorcerer then made to sneak around the staircase and try to search another part of the ship, however was halted when the vessel gave a sudden lurch.

The boy slammed into the wall and grunted audibly. The sound resonated through the wood of the ship's interior and he slumped to the floor, caressing his bruised joint. He pushed himself to his feet, his teeth gritted and his shoulder still sore.

Behind him the man had turned around to see where the noise had come from, his eyes widened as he looked around. However, upon seeing nothing he continued down the corridor. Mekial briefly heard him mutter something about seeing the Captain before his voice drifted away.

The sorcerer again started forward, each step more crooked than the last. His mind could not uncover the reason for this; he was sure that he had banged his shoulder, not his head. Why then would he be unable to walk in a straight line? And the ship's sudden jolt of movement: what could have caused that?

At that moment Mekial heard smothered voices coming from above the ceiling. He lifted his head to stare up to it, straining his hearing to decipher whether or not he was truly hearing people speaking or if it was merely the sound of the ocean crashing against the _Maysee_'s sides.

Steadily he circled to the front side of the staircase and stared up at the trapdoor for a long moment, wondering whether he should give in to his curiosity or continue his search. He looked up and down the hall for extra precaution, and then he ascended the staircase and gently pushed the trapdoor open just enough for his eyes to look around.

To his bewilderment there were feet marching around on the deck, rushing to shrouds and hoisting sails. Among the shouting Mekial could hear a lone voice shouting orders for the men. He then lowered himself beneath the horizon of the floor and lifted his eyes to see a clearer view of the sky. The stars were...moving.

No, the _ship_ was moving.

* * *

Link looked up from Darwin's still form to the entrance of the room when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Through the dark doorway came Lemm, along with a young woman—presumably the doctor he went to retrieve—as well as Brent and Renée. Though she appeared tired there was still a glow of concern in her expression.

In her arms she carried a bundle of items: bandages and small bottles filled with red, blue and clear liquid. The woman beside her carried the same items, seemingly fewer, as well as a few white fluffy things that Link could not identify. As the four entered the room, their footsteps slowing, Link could strangely still hear the sound of feet tapping against the wooden floor. However, the extra noise ceased when the woman had reached the couch that Darwin was laying in and Link disregarded it.

Renée placed the items that she held upon a nearby table, the bottles upright and laying the bandages close to the edge for the woman to retrieve them easier.

Link rose from his seat and approached the woman, stopping when he was a couple feet behind her. Brent moved to stand a ways from the couch, watching the scene before him in deep thought, and Renée remained by the table stand, her eyes firmly locked upon Darwin's hidden face. Lemm lingered near the entrance of the room, as though unsure whether he should stay or depart.

The woman cautiously reached out a hand and took hold of the green cloth that was wrapped around Darwin's arm. The small Hylian winced and his head turned away more, wishing that the pain would vanish in that instant.

The woman noticed this movement and moved to retrieve one of the big, white fluffy balls. She uncorked one of the clear bottles and covered it with the tangible cloud in her hand and tipped it over, allowing for the clear liquid substance to flow from the bottle's innards and onto the ball.

When the fluff that the woman held in her hand was damp with the clear water, she replaced the bottle upon the stand and herself to Darwin's side. Again she placed a hand upon the makeshift bandage, this time ignoring the boy's flinch, and steadily began to unwrap it.

Link sensed Renée involuntarily start at the sight of the gash on Darwin's arm. Though Link was partly relieved; the wound appeared to be less serious than before.

Without showing any sign that she had even noticed the injury, the woman pressed the white ball upon it, causing Darwin to cry out. His arm jerked but he forced it to remain in place, knowing that the woman's stinging aid was the only thing that could help him.

The woman silently acknowledged Darwin's submission and she continued to dab at the gash until the fluffy ball she held in her hand was too dirty to use. She tossed it to the ground and reached for another one, repeating the same action of dampening it with the clear liquid and continued to wash away at the wound. Once it was too dirty, she again moved for another one.

It was not until there was a mountain of bloodstained cotton balls on the floor was Darwin's arm completely clean. His skin shined in the small lighting of the room and the mark on his arm was clearly visible.

No blood was pouring from it now, almost as though the liquid used to clean it had also stopped the escaping blood, and it was not as deep as Link had thought it was—though it was still a thick cut. For a moment Link wondered if the person who had struck at Darwin had first stabbed his arm before swiping his sword to the side as he withdrew it.

"Renée, the bandages," the woman said, holding her hand out to the Arkanian.

Renée shook herself out of her daze and reached for a pile of bandages that she unwrapped and delivered to the woman. She nodded her thanks and moved to wrap Darwin's arm. When she had finished, she rose to her feet and turned to Link. Renée took one of the bottles of red liquid and proceeded to pour it down Darwin's throat.

"He's lost a lot of blood," the woman started, her eyes creased with worry. Link briefly noticed the tear stains upon her cheeks and he presumed that, although she was seemingly impassive, she had felt an amazing amount of sorrow for the small boy. "It's amazing that he's still alive—the wound hit a major blood vessel in his arm. The amount of blood that he's lost is...worrying."

"What does that mean?" Link asked, his brow creasing, his concern rising. "He's gonna be okay, right?" Darwin choked abruptly on the potion, startling Renée and causing both Link and the woman to look at him. Renée lifted the boy's head so that he could breathe and not choke on the liquid in the back of his throat and began to pat his back. "He'll be all right...right?"

The woman ran her hand through her hair, brushing loose strands of it out of her face as she did so. "I...I don't know. The red potion should do some healing and help. The blue potion should then give an extra boost in his healing if that doesn't do anything, but...I..." She shook her head. "I don't know, I'm sorry." She had added the last two words when seeing Link's pained look. The child was so young...why did he have to suffer so? "But he needs rest," the woman continued, rubbing her arm. "If he lasts another hour or two, then he should be fine—"

"So an hour or two is all he has left?" Link interrupted, frustration building within him. "That's it, you can't do anything else?" The woman shook her head again and her eyes were cast to the side in shame.

Link looked away from her to look at Darwin who was still gulping down the rest of the red drug. Upon finishing it Renée rested the back of his head against the pillow. He lay there still, breathing slowly and steadily.

As Renée returned to the table stand to place the now empty bottle upon it, a soft moan escaped Darwin's lips, followed by the calling of a name: "Link..."

Link remained where he was, staring at the boy calling out for him. Renée looked to Darwin and Link in turn, Brent stepped forward though made no other movement, and Lemm remained by the entrance of the room, half leaning towards the exit though wanting to remain and see the outcome of the situation. Behind him, in the darkness of the hall, a being shifted slightly and strained her ears to continue her eavesdrop.

"You have to rest," the woman ordered, kneeling beside Darwin again and placing a hand on his. "Don't try to talk—it will only weaken you more."

But Darwin gave no heed to her statement and he turned his head to the side. Flyaway hair fell around his face and across his forehead and his skin was so pale that his eyes appeared darker than normal. He moved his uninjured arm to the edge of the couch, as though he were beckoning Link to come closer. Link complied and knelt before Darwin.

"The..." Darwin's voice was so quiet that not even Link's sensitive ears could clearly hear him. "The...Prime Minister..." Link tensed—Brent came closer upon hearing the words of his sister's title and Renée also came around to the other end of the couch to hear. Darwin continued to speak as though his sudden audience was no more visible than the air: "She..." His voice grew faint.

"The Prime Minister?" Link heard Brent quietly inquire. The blue-haired Hylian looked to Link. "What...is something wrong with her? Did something happen?" Link did not reply as Darwin once again attempted to speak.

"The Prime Minister, she..." His voice rose to a higher volume, though was still soft, and he adjusted himself in his laying position to lessen the pressure on his air passage and allow him more articulation of his words. Though it did not truly help: his next words were slightly slurred and it took Link a moment to separate the syllables: "Appeared with...the man...Kelvis..."

Kelvis. Could that be the name of the man that he, Mekial and Dijonay had encountered deep in the chambers of Talis?

"She's being held...for...nn..." Darwin winced before trying to speak again, "...an exchange...her for a...'sh-shard'..."

"Please..." The woman interrupted by placing the back of her hand on Darwin's forehead. "You need to rest to recover your strength. Please don't push yourself."

Darwin ignored the woman. "She's...with...urgh..." There was a long silence as Darwin's eyes shut and he remained unmoving, the only sign of his life being the rise and fall of his chest. He then took a deep, shuddering breath and struggled to finish his sentence, forcing his eyelids to lift. "...Master...on the ship..._M-May...see_..."

Darwin paused again, this time forcing his lungs to suck in the oxygen that he needed to start and complete his next thought. Though it was still slowly spoken and there were many more pauses in between as Darwin was just barely clinging to consciousness. "Y-you know..." He laughed lightly. "I...recognized your...tunic from...all the books...of legends that...I read in Berkonis...before I was...c-captured..." Darwin stopped and took a couple of steady breaths, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. Slowly, his eyelids lifted again and he locked his bleary vision upon Link's face once more.

"You can...save her, can't you...?" A small smile appeared on the Hylian boy's face, forced but hopeful. "Captain Zorr isn't...very nice...he even did this...t-to me... And I...believe that...even if it's the G-Governess...I'm afraid of...of what he'll...d-do to...to her..." His voice was slowly dying until his words were nothing more than a hoarse whisper. And then, he fell silent and his eyelids slammed over his eyeballs, enshrouding him in peaceful darkness.


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter Thirty-Five**

"...Darwin?" Link moved to gently nudge the boy but stopped when the woman beside him sighed.

"I told him not to push himself... There's nothing to worry about," she added to the concerned looks of Brent, Link and Renée. "He's still alive..." She looked pointedly at his rising and falling chest—though the movement was barely noticeable. "I'll remain here with him to make sure that he stays that way."

"Why would the Governess be on a ship, though?" Renée questioned, looking at Link. "She's supposed to be in Revale."

"And what does he mean 'in exchange for a shard'?" Brent added, scratching his head. "Link, do you know what he's talking about?" Link hesitated.

He wanted to explain to Brent and Renée the events that had happened that night, the reasons that Telma and her company had sailed to Arkania, the reason that the Governess was no longer safely in her Estate.

But could he? The fact that the Triforce of Power was split into four shards—one presently in his belt pouch—was a secret. He could not say that the Triforce was now out of balance what with one of its pieces being utterly shattered. Explaining it would lead to more questions, questions that Link did not feel he had the right to answer.

Brent and Renée stared at Link, their eyes silently asking him for legitimate responses. Link's mind began to rack itself for some sort of reply; one that would not tell the whole truth but would at least explain what was going on, if not vaguely.

"It's complicated," was his somewhat unacceptable answer. Both Brent and Renée stared at him.

"Care to elaborate?" the latter asked.

Link shook his head and rose to his feet. "No, it really is. Telling you is something that I'm not sure that I can do right now. All that I can really say is that the Governess asked me to come with her to retrieve something—this shard that she's being held ransom for—and along the way she was captured. Darwin here just told us where she is." With that last statement his eyes fell to the sight of the small Hylian boy lying there, still sleeping, still near-death.

Renée's mouth opened to inquire further but Brent stopped her short by speaking himself: "Well, if that's all that you can tell us, then that's fine." Renée blinked and glanced to Brent, but when she did not speak it was assumed that she agreed with the Hylian Rights Group leader. "But if you're going to the ship he mentioned, this _Maysee_, I'm coming with you."

Link nodded.

"I wanna come too," Renée blurted out after shortly hesitating about her decision. "Although I haven't been in touch with the Governess, we still have a friendship that we made when we were younger. She's my friend and I...I want to help save her."

She looked determined, firmly set in her choice. The same expression was on Mekial's face when he had stated that he would not go to Taranis with Link but would sneak aboard the _Maysee_.

Link briefly compared their faces in his mind; they looked very much alike...

"Which reminds me, there's another person that went with us to retrieve the shard," he said. "The Governess's Guard: Mekial Deon."

Renée's once resolute visage immediately fell to a stupefied stare. She sucked in her breath and bit her lip as a single thought traveled through her mind, unable to be completed as it was erased with other racing thoughts:

_My _brother_ is on board the...?_

Brent too appeared utterly dumbfounded upon hearing the name. Link briefly looked between the two, clueless as to the reason the name held such power over them. Seconds later, Brent recovered from the shock.

"...All right." Renée shook herself out of her trance upon hearing the Hylian's voice. The way he continued speaking gave the illusion that he had ignored Link's previous comment: "The _Maysee_ is docked at the harbor of Peluma, right?" Link nodded in confirmation. "So then it'll just be us three going—I don't want a lot of the members of our group getting involved in this. Plus it's late and after the Thrall Cell Raid they'll need their rest. Lemm," Brent suddenly looked to Lemm and the dark-haired man responded by catching his eye, "you're in charge while I'm gone."

Lemm simply nodded and Brent started for the hallway in order to exit the Main House and retrieve his things. Renée too made to follow however stopped short before she could bump into Brent's backside.

She peeked around him to see the reason for his abrupt ceasing of his advancing steps and her eyebrows creased in confusion. Standing before Brent, her back against the wall and her eyes hidden behind partly bedridden hair was Katrina. Whether her eyes were wide with shock or emotionless and passive was difficult to tell.

"How long have you been there?" Brent asked quietly, his voice calm but also demanding. Katrina, sensing this tone, did not give a snappish reply:

"I was hear long enough to have heard everything."

"So you were eavesdropping."

Katrina shrunk back slightly and bit her lip but her next word escaped before she could catch it: "...No."

Brent's eyes narrowed. "Don't lie."

Katrina shook her head and she took a step backward, her back still against the wall. "I apologize—I heard Lemm thundering around the house I was in, screaming for a doctor and I couldn't help but want to find out what was going on. I heard Link shouting for a door to be opened a bit before that as well." At this Katrina cast a look over Brent's shoulder to see the Hyrulean watching her. "I guessed that Lemm needing a doctor and Link's shouting were something related so I just followed you. My...curiosity got the best of me."

Brent did not answer this and his expression was stern with deep thought. Katrina averted her gaze from the firm look, feeling uncomfortable.

Renée stepped out from behind Brent and dismissed herself, suggesting that they meet up at the end of Taranis when they had their things together.

Link also walked by the two, as did Lemm. The woman, as she said before, remained by Darwin's side to ensure that he lasted the rest of the night.

Katrina remained stilled against the wall, repeatedly casting her eyes from Brent's face to the floor. The young man then broke the heavy silence by giving Katrina permission to accompany them.

At first the Corvenian seemed defiant; she was not keen on the idea of aiding in the rescue of a Prime Minister that she knew nothing of nor cared for. But when her mind registered the idea that she would be able to keep an eye on Link—that she would be able to find her proof of his being a cold-blooded murderer—she accepted the invitation. She and Brent then exited the Main House to prepare themselves for their rescue mission.

As Renée had proposed, she, Katrina, Brent and Link met up at the edge of Taranis near the storing houses for the Hover Boards. Brent unlocked one of these miniature shacks and retrieved two Hover Boards. He turned both of them on and the floating vehicles lifted themselves off the ground, floating about a half a foot over the land.

Brent climbed on to one of the Boards and Katrina moved forward to accompany him. In one short sentence and a fleeting glance to Link, she explained that she would not ride with the Hyrulean. Brent merely shrugged his shoulders and held his hand out for Katrina to mount the Board with him. She took his hand and both Link and Renée boarded the second wind-powered vehicle.

Katrina wrapped her arms around Brent's waist and ensured that she was securely attached to him. She peeked down at the soil beneath her and her mind involuntarily imagined what it would look like when she would be flying not too soon from then.

She tightly pressed her lips together and hid her face in Brent's back. A shiver ran up her spine when she felt the Board ascend in the air and heard the low hum of the Windmite whirring on its innards. She sucked in a slow, steady breath, forcing her nerves to calm themselves and her thoughts to linger on relaxing images.

Renée also tucked her arms around Link, though she did not close in on him as Katrina did to Brent. She looked over to Katrina and her lips pulled up in a small, sympathizing smile, for she remembered the time she had first ridden a Hover Board. It had been both exhilarating and frightening for her; Renée easily figured which emotion was more present in the Corvenian's mind.

Link pressed the button upon the Hover Board's handle and it climbed higher into the sky not too far below Brent and Katrina. The four did not go as high as they had done many times before—Katrina was genuinely grateful for this—but instead flew high enough for the Resistance hideout of Taranis to look like a doll house. Brent pointed out that the clouds were accumulating; a storm was rolling in, he theorized, and flying high and close to the clouds would be a bad, if not foolish idea.

There was a low and distant roll of thunder, reinforcing Brent's request of flying safely. Ignoring this sound of nature, the four jetted forward in the direction of Arkania's port city. Midway into their flight, a light drizzle of rain descended from the darkening clouds above. It was not until the small band had reached the edge of Peluma did the rain grow in weight and become an easy downpour.

Brent had the group land not too far from the harbor of Peluma. Here Taranis' leader directed everyone to a small crowd of trees standing on a bluff over the ocean. The Hover Boards were stashed here—Brent did not want them to be taken all the way into the harbor; if they were, it was possible that someone would spot them.

After making sure that both Boards were safely hidden from view, Brent and the two girls began to descend the hill and started their march towards the harbor. Link on the other hand remained upon the bluff, watching the oceanic waves crash and bowl into the side of the cliff.

Each black and sinister wave hit against the cliff's side with a mighty force, each time colliding with the rock with more and more fervor. Further away from the shoreline Link could see more waves thrashing and toppling over one another in the blackness of night.

Link lingered on the hillside for a moment longer and then he turned to follow after his comrades. Just as the Hylian had stepped upon his allies' trail, the sky flashed a brief and brilliant white; in that sudden light Link's azure eyes had caught sight of an object floating further out in the restless sea. But with the rain falling heavier than before, Link could not make out what the object was and the lack of light proved to be no aid.

Again the sky erupted into a chilling pale color and then reverted to its dark self. A rumbling noise sounded in the distant night air and roared over Link and the others' heads and white splits in the sky briefly showed. Link jogged down the hill to catch up with the others and fell into step behind them, his hair already plastered against his face from the rainfall.

Their boots sloshed through the mud along the edge of the grassy plains and the ocean waves repeatedly attempted to stretch towards them as though they could reach forward and pull them into its depths by their ankles.

Despite the fierce cry of the thunder, the continuous flashes of lightning and the beckoning, deep black ocean, the band continued to troop towards the harbor. Upon reaching the grainy terrain of the harbor's soil, the four had to tear their feet out of the thick mud in order to continue their advance.

When they had been freed from the wet ground of the fields, Link took the lead of the group and directed them towards where he recalled the _Maysee_ to have been docked earlier that night. Through the layers of precipitation Link searched the docks for any sign of the large vessel that he had arrived in. He led the group down a line of ships of varying sizes as well as a number of smaller boats or canoes.

Finally, Link approached a specific pier. He cast a glance over his shoulder to the marketplace's road behind him, recognizing its position and guessing that the pier he was presently standing before was the same one that Mekial had approached earlier.

Link turned his head away from the road and raised a hand over his face as he peered in the direction of the pier; this same direction happened to be the way the wind was blowing from, which was presently sending a multitude of water droplets into his eyes. He quickly overcame this obstacle and squinted ahead of him and his eyes jumped to and fro around the pier in search of the ship.

"Link, where is it?" Brent called over the roar of the rain and another clap of thunder.

"I-I don't know!" Link shouted back, turning to face Brent. Behind the blue-haired Hylian Katrina and Renée slowly stepped forward to hear Link, holding their arms over their heads to protect their eyes. "It was here before—when Mekial went aboard!"

"Mekial's on the ship?" Renée inquired, flinching and blinking a few times as a sudden flash of lightning had briefly blinded her.

"He went aboard because he thought he saw the Governess," Link replied, approaching her so that she could hear him a little clearer. "But it doesn't look like the ship's even here anymore!"

"You don't think that they set sail, do you?" Brent asked, a pang of worry in his voice. Link did not respond immediately and his mind worked to find a solution to their problem.

He and the others then let out a brief cry of shock as a sudden gale blew into them, this time blowing in the direction of the ocean. With the turn of the wind Link faced the ocean and lightning shot across the sky again. This sudden flash of light brought a brief image to Link's eyes: a ship, rocking and sailing away from the harbor of Peluma. He turned to face the others, an expression of hesitation upon his face.

There was a possibility that the ship was the _Maysee_. But Link did not want to raise any false thoughts in the others nor in himself. However there was evidence to prove that the _Maysee,_ was in fact that ship, though it was a small bit of information: for one all of the other ships were unmanned and docked at the harbor. There was no one upon them that showed that there was any sign of life and if the Prime Minister was aboard a ship Link guessed that there should be some sort of activity.

"Link, what's wrong?" Brent called.

Link went over his little piece of evidence repeatedly in his mind before he settled on a proper reply: "It's sailing."

"How—" Before Brent could finish his sentence a drum roll of thunder interrupted him. The waves of the ocean slammed into the sides of the anchored ships, sending them rocking so heavily that it almost looked as though they would tip over. Once the shock of the small event had resided, Brent refaced Link and continued his previous statement: "How do you know it's sailing?"

Link pointed behind him. "I can see it out there."

"Out there?" Renée repeated, gazing out over the stormy horizon.

Behind her, Katrina peered over her shoulder as she had felt an icy chill run up her spine. She stared at the unlit and rainy road of the marketplace in silence, her hair whipping and lashing about her face in the raging weather.

She slowly drew her gaze away from the street and stepped closer to the group. For a reason she could not identify she felt an odd sense of fear and déjà vu overcome her. Her mind could not stop thinking of the road behind her, dark and mysterious, almost as though something were lurking there.

She closed her eyes and in a sudden wave of flashing images she saw the past events of the Isle Massacre. She flinched and her eyes flew open, accompanied by a gasp that she had not meant to release. Though because of the storm furiously blowing around her and the others, the sound she had emitted went unnoticed.

"If it's sailing, how do we catch it now?" Brent asked in exasperation, running his fingers through his wet hair. "Getting the Hover Boards and riding through this would be insane." Though the thunder and lightning had now temporarily subsided, the rain of the sky and the swirling winds had yet to have died away.

"We should search for shelter," Renée said. "We can't stay out here; maybe a dry environment would even help us with thinking of a plan."

"That's probably what we should do," Brent agreed. "Then let's search for a place to—"

A shriek then rent through the air, high and blood curdling, terrifying and abrupt. The screech then fell too low for it to be heard over the noise of the weather almost as quickly as it had sounded.

The Hylians of the party, their hearing being far more sensitive than Renée's, had fallen to their knees and covered their ears when the scream had been heard.

Renée too had covered her ears and slightly bent over; she removed her hands and stood up straight when the scream had died away. Link, partly dizzy, jumped to his feet and drew his sword.

Katrina was also quick to return to her feet as she too recalled what the sound was. Though she did not move to draw her weapons; if what she heard was what she thought it was, even if she were armed she would still be helpless.

She took a number of retreating steps from where she stood and stopped short when she bumped into Renée. The Arkanian, having still been stunned by the sudden noise, barely registered Katrina's hitting her.

Link searched the harbor as best as he could through the sheets of rain that fell from the clouds. But to his frustration he could not see anything. The grip on the handle of his sword tightened and a low growl made its way through his gritted teeth.

Then he forced everything to become, in his mind, silent.

The rain made no sound as it pattered to the grainy ground of the harbor. The wind could not howl. The ships could not creak as they swayed.

Link then separated the sounds of these things in his hearing, straining to listen for something scraping against the cobblestoned road of the marketplace. Renée lightly gripped the hilt of her sword and Link quickly shut away that noise. Brent's long, green jacket was knocked aside as the young man reached into one of his pockets to pull out his portable Bo staff. Link locked away that noise as well.

And he waited.

And he listened.

And still he heard nothing.

He stepped out of his fighting position though his sword and shield remained firmly clasped in his hands. He caught brief glances from the other three of the group though he did not fully return them.

Renée's hand remained upon the hilt of her sword, the blade half-showing and Brent's hand was now holding his full-length Bo staff. Katrina, as before, remained unarmed.

A drop of water fell from the ends of one of her locks of hair and fell across her face. With that small drop of water, Katrina's once frozen body returned to life and she spun on her heel to face Link.

She flipped her hair out of her eyes so that she could see him only a little clearer, though her vision was still hazed by the rainfall. Her green eyes flared with hatred and mistrust and Link could see this even through the precipitation.

"It's your fault," she spat, her voice trembling with loathing. Beneath her sleeves her muscles flexed, by her sides her hands curled into fists; her knives shot out from beneath her sleeves, gray and sharp. "They're here because you called them, you..." her voice lowered to a feral growl and she raised her knives, "you _monster_!"

Katrina broke into a run, hurriedly and slyly catching herself before she could slip on the wet ground. Renée spotted Katrina's outburst of speed too late and the hand that she had used to try and grab the Corvenian snatched at rainwater instead.

Link raised his sword to block Katrina's predictable flurry of swipes but Brent's Bo staff flew out in front of the girl, catching her across the stomach and knocking her to the ground.

A sharp pain shot through her seat and up her spine when Katrina landed. She yelped and used her hands to support her upper body so that she would not fall flat on her back. Her fingers dug into the soil, scraping up a pile of mud that filled her trembling hands. Her palms then pressed into the pile as she bent over, her hair clinging to her face and wrapping around her body. There she remained, heaving and trying to control her rising temper.

She lifted her head and glared at Brent through her long, soaking bangs with a jade stare. "You would help him?" she snarled, her fingers digging through the dirt into her palms. "That bloodthirsty _fiend_?" Link cringed at her choice of words and Brent did not answer.

Katrina helped herself to her feet and once standing her knives receded to the scabbards beneath her sleeves. She exhaled deeply before darkly asking, "Do you know what's out there?" Brent again remained silent and Link cast a fleeting glance to the street behind Katrina. "My friends and I call them Shadows, they're monsters that came with that _thing_ that you're protecting when my home was destroyed!" Katrina's voice rose with each word until she was yelling over the storm. "That monster is their master and they're coming because he called them to!" Katrina pointed a finger at the Hyrulean. "He's going to kill every last Corvenian and anyone that stands in his way! Maybe he'll even kill all of the Hylians—and you're protecting him!" Katrina swung her arm down and off to her side before letting it fall against her side limply. "Why?!" she screamed and in that moment her eyes were no longer hating and distrusting, but pleading and confused. "Why would you help him?! Why would you stop me?!"

Brent held his staff beside him, its base planted in the ground. "Because," he started, "I trust him. And from what you've seen of him, you should as well." At this, Katrina faltered and she waited to see if Brent should continue. "He's not a murderer. It's time for you to look past your opinion and see that for yourself."

Katrina held Brent's gaze for a long moment, then she bowed her head and clenched a shivering fist by her side.

"I..." Her voice was barely audible, even to herself. "But then..."

_But then who did it?_

Hot, salty tears welled up in the corners of Katrina's eyes. _Who took them all away from me...?_

The wind whistled in their ears and once it had passed there was another high-pitched scream, this time so high that Renée could not hear it. Brent, Link and Katrina fell to their knees and covered their ears, their faces twisted in agony and shouts of pain tearing out of their throats.

Renée looked over the three in surprise and searched the harbor, questions running through her mind. She drew her sword out of her sheath completely and attempted to control her racing heartbeat and her unsteady nerves. She did not move to stand in between her allies and the road for fear that the enemy was not coming from there. But if not there, then where?

Then, almost as an answer to her unspoken inquiry, a shroud of black mist swirled above the rooftop of one of the buildings along the marketplace's street. Behind it two more clouds appeared and each one climbed into the air, enlarging and taking on a solid shape. Renée glanced to the others below her: they were now recovering from the shock of the noisy attack.

When Renée had returned her gaze to the clouds before her, she saw that there were now three tall Shadows in their place, each one blanketed in a pitch black cloak with hems that were enshrouded in a dark mist.

The one in the front was the first to move by flying towards Link, its hands outstretched and completely ignorant of Renée's presence. Seeing this, Renée clumsily swung her sword in a diagonal cut, cleanly slicing off what she believed may have been the Shadow's left arm.

The monster screamed wildly and dismissed its earlier plan of attacking the vulnerable Link. It backed away from the place where Renée had struck at it and on the ground in its place was an arm. A pool of black liquid was near the shoulder joint, slowly expanding to take up the size of a small puddle.

The limb was made of nothing but bone with weathered skin upon it. Along its forearm and triceps were patches of discolored skin or spots where there was no skin at all. Its lanky fingers curled inward, twitching until they fell completely still. Renée looked away from the sight just in time to see a lump growing in its previous owner's shoulder.

From the Shadow's shoulder joint the lump grew until it was the length of an arm; though there was no skin upon it, nor any muscle. Black tendons then stretched and formed across the bone and worn skin quickly spread across it not too much later. The darkness that blanketed the Shadow spiraled around this new arm and obscured it from view.

Renée had been watching this with her mouth somewhat agape. Once the Shadow had completed growing its arm she shook herself out of her daze, filled with true disgust for what she had just witnessed. Finally, she managed to stutter: "It can _regenerate_?"

Her last word came out partly choked as long and bony fingers closed around her throat. Renée's sword clattered to the ground as she instinctively drew her hands up to grasp at the Shadow's.

While her hands were still reaching upward towards her neck, the mist that swirled around the Shadow's ankles ascended, coiling around Renée's body like a black serpent. The single tentacle of smoke thickened as it slipped around the Arkanian until both she and the Shadow were nothing more than a cloud of pitch blackness.

Then the billow of darkness shrank and vanished, leaving merely a thin black string of smoke in its wake. Less than a second later, this small bit of black was blown away into nothingness.

Even as Renée was being taken by one of the Shadows, the one that had grown its arm had flown forward, clutching first Katrina and then Brent in its gangling grasp. The two victims were swept away in darkness, just as Renée had been, and the final Shadow moved in for Link.

The Hyrulean, prepared for the assault, swung his sword outward as the Shadow approached. But to his dismay, his blade struck at nothing but a wisp of black smoke as the Shadow had vanished upon seeing Link raise his blade. The beast then reappeared behind him and before the hero could react it had stolen him away, just as its allies had done to his.


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty-Six**

Mekial ducked away from the trapdoor when he saw footsteps coming near. He whipped around, the door slamming behind him as he released it, and he skipped down the stairs, jumping over the last two before he could dive to the backside of the staircase. There he knelt and tucked his head in between his knees, hoping that his dark cloak and hair would serve as camouflage in the shadow of the staircase.

A man then opened the trapdoor above, allowing an explosion of voices to come in after him. He let the trapdoor noiselessly swing shut as he went down the stairs and the sound of people talking to one another on the above decks died to a mere muffle.

Mekial peeked over his shoulder to see the man that was coming down to the lower decks of the _Maysee_, but he quickly hid his face away as the man rounded the staircase. To the young sorcerer's delight he remained unspotted as the man continued down the hall.

Once the man had turned a corner and vanished from view, Mekial drew himself out of his hiding place and returned to the trapdoor. A sudden idea had occurred to him: seeing as the Prime Minister of Arkania were important, she would not be held somewhere as low as a ship's prison hold or the quarters of the crewmen. She would be held somewhere important, would she not?

Such as the Captain's quarters.

Mekial lifted the trapdoor so that only his eyes could see the feet of the crewmembers scurrying around the deck. He stayed in that position for a long while, statue-like, and his entire body began to grow numb. After what seemed like a fifteen-minute wait—or possibly a bit longer—feet finally approached the trapdoor. Mekial, having been awaiting this moment, hurriedly went through the process of casting an invisibility charm over him.

The young boy then moved off to the side of the staircase as the crewmember removed the trapdoor. The man ducked into the tunnel and when his hand lost its grip on the trapdoor, Mekial made to clamber up onto the deck.

But he held fast upon noting that a few others were accompanying the man. They passed by him, chuckling at a previous joke and the front of one of the men's shoes slammed into Mekial's heel.

The boy held his breath as the man stumbled forward and caught himself by skipping the last of the stairs. His friends laughed and Mekial heard one of them say, "Nice save."

After they had passed and before the trapdoor could fall shut, the boy scrambled up the last of the stairs and came aboard the quarterdeck, his stomach flat against the floor.

There was no more hurrying movement as there had been before: instead of men rushing to hoist the sails and raise the anchor, there were small groups of people crowded around certain spots along the railing or on deck, chatting with one another. Not a single eye flicked towards the trapdoor in suspicion where Mekial lay crouched upon the ground. Here and there the magic-wielder caught snippets of conversation though he did not care to listen closely to them.

He craned his neck upward to look at the sails of the ship: they were pale and blank and there were no flags nearby that could inform the Governess' Guard who the ship was sailing under. At this, Mekial's brow furrowed. The ships that left any harbor in the Arkanian Empire should bear the flag of Arkania somewhere on it.

Searching the deck for any sign of this, Mekial soon laid eyes upon folded cloth stacked up against a corner of the ship's deck. Mekial slowly rose to his feet, though he remained hunched as he made his way towards this stack of folded fabric.

Mekial lifted a hand to try and unfold the material but quickly halted himself, his hand hovering over the pile, when he realized that the sight of this cloth mysteriously unfolding would definitely arouse suspicion. Instead, Mekial leaned close to the fabric and lightly pried it apart with his fingers.

He caught sight of the corner of what he knew was the Arkanian banner before he quickly released the cloth as a man walked past. The man tripped over the hem of Mekial's concealed cloak but he hurriedly caught himself and looked over his shoulder to see what had interrupted his step.

Finding nothing, he presumed he may have tripped over an uneven plank in the floor. This thought in mind, the man continued on his earlier path.

Mekial glanced to his left and his right before he displaced himself from his location and, seeing no one coming, he approached a set of double-doors located beneath the poop deck. Here he pressed his back flat against the door on the right, and then removed a hand from his cloak in order to knock upon the other one. He assumed that the room behind this set of doors was the Captain's quarters.

Just before Mekial rapped his knuckles on the door he caught sight of his hand to find that it was no longer concealed but rather see-through. He groaned inwardly; holding the form of his invisible appearance was beginning to tire him. Having done it more than once in the same night, the time span for each cast of the charm was beginning to dwindle.

But despite that Mekial now knew that he needed to work quickly: he forced his hand to become enshrouded with his charm once again, knocked on the door and then stepped away from the entrance, awaiting someone to—hopefully—open it. Seconds later, the door swung open to reveal the face of the one who had stolen the Prime Minister.

Mekial's body tensed and his eyes widened; briefly his appearance flashed into existence but he regained control over his emotions, concealing himself once again.

The man fortunately had not noticed the young sorcerer's mishap and his slim eyes looked back and forth over the deck, searching for who had knocked. Seeing no one, he began to shut the door and Mekial's entire body locked into a leaping position. The boy shot forward, skidding on his stomach in between the man's legs until he was fully in the room behind the door.

The room was large, with a long row of windows lining the opposite wall, granting a view of an enlarging black storm cloud in the night sky. A desk and chair were to the left of the room, cluttered with scattered papers and a quill that lay atop of it all.

On the wall opposite this setup was a map of the seas and all the lands that surrounded them; included upon this map was a large circle drawn within a closed mountain range on a continent across the Great Sea, which was walled by a number of other countries, for example Albaan, Benedir and Galdea. Written in the center of this circle and underlined was the word 'Hyrule'.

As soon as the momentum from sliding into the room had ceased, Mekial eased himself to his feet, now struggling to keep the invisibility charm around him intact. But he was slipping and he knew it; it was only a matter of minutes before the magic curtain over him fell and he was exposed.

The young sorcerer looked about the room and did a quick double take to a being standing by the desk. This blond-haired man was leaning against the edge of it, twirling a black hat around one of his fingers in a carefree way, though his slim eyes were fixed upon the ground and his eyebrows were pursed as his mind lingered upon a complex thought.

Upon hearing a creak from the doorway, Mekial averted his gaze from this man, who he assumed to be the ship captain, and looked to the one who had opened the door for him. He was shutting the door of the quarters now, locking away the image of the deck and the sailors upon it. The man then began to walk back into the room and Mekial turned away to search for a decent place to hide.

While he was searching the room, his eyes locked upon a figure sitting on the floor, her back pressed against the wall that was beneath the windows. Mekial dared not utter a shout as he recognized the person as the Prime Minister.

He made to step toward her however stopped abruptly when Dijonay's head lolled onto her shoulder, revealing her closed eyes and a cloth that was now being used as a gag for her. The hairs on her head brushed against a hidden barrier around her, briefly revealing it. Her Guard recognized what the shield was and he dismissed the idea of rushing to her side. Instead, he made his way towards a dark corner near her, his mind working to formulate a plan for them to escape.

The captain of the _Maysee _ended the twirling of his hat and placed the accessory upon his desk. Crossing his arms over his chest his gaze slid across the room to look at the second male figure.

"Kelvis," he called, and the man responded by looking over to him. Mekial had also looked up when Zorr had said the man's name and he directed all of his attention to their possible exchange of words. Beside him, Dijonay stirred in her sleep.

"What?" Kelvis turned to face Zorr when he had not said anything but rather had turned his eyes back to the floor, his mind again consumed with mixed thoughts. After a long pause, Zorr finally returned his eyes to Kelvis.

"This entire thing seems vague to me," the captain started, a frown wrinkling his brow.

Kelvis did not reply. Rather, his dark eyes stared at Zorr with an undecipherable expression. Finally he responded, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall beside the door as he turned away: "You don't need to know any more than you already do."

"Right and all that I know was to take Link to Arkania and that would somehow provoke the Prime Minister into searching for some 'Triforce of Power' shard," Zorr started, "and in the end Malbex will take the shard from her, take Link's Triforce and then allow the government to deal with his framed offense to the Corva Isles. But what's the point?"

"You don't need to know the point," Kelvis shot back, making eye contact with Zorr again. "All you need to do is sail on until those Shadows show up with Link. Maybe if you do that Malbex'll answer more of your stupid questions." Zorr's eyes narrowed but he said no more.

Mekial shifted in his corner, his eyebrows creasing as he attempted to keep the spell of concealment over him. It was growing extremely difficult and his grip on the magic was beginning to slip. Knowing the inevitable, Mekial began to search the quarters for a place that would serve as a better hiding place.

There were no objects nearby for the boy to crouch in, as on a rocking ship tons of movable furniture would not be a wise thing to include. Regardless of the absence of furniture that would be in most rooms, Mekial continued to search for a location that would hide him. In the end, he decided on hiding behind the Captain's desk.

As the young boy rose to make his way towards the table, he felt his invisibility charm slipping. Quickly grasping it and maintaining a weak grip upon it, Mekial dashed across the room, losing his balance as the ship tilted with a shove of the suddenly disturbed ocean.

Mekial's arms swung outward to help maintain his balance, to cease his sliding, but his feet continued to slip across the smooth floor, transporting his body from beside the desk to crash into the wall behind it with a resounding _thud_.

Zorr looked over his shoulder and then fully turned around. As Mekial began to slowly allow himself to slide to the floor, he felt something clinging to his chest; he peeked down and found a piece of parchment that was nailed to the wall now also crinkled against his robe. What was written on it Mekial did not bother to find out, but he knew that if he moved now, his cover could possibly be blown.

Captain Zorr eyed the piece of paper, mysteriously crumpled up and crushed against an invisible object. The man's eyes narrowed and he slowly approached it. Kelvis watched the scene silently from where he stood, his mind already starting to think of what had possibly caused the thumping sound.

The fair-haired captain stretched out a hand cautiously, intending to flatten the paper against the wall as it had been before. Just before his fingers could graze against Mekial's back, the boy had scrunched his eyes shut and fell noiselessly to the floor, then dove beneath the Captain's desk.

As he had fallen, the paper had unfolded itself and fallen loosely back into place. Zorr's fingers flinched where they were, a few inches away from the paper, and he stared in confusion at the mysterious parchment.

The man turned to face Kelvis and his once outstretched fingers closed into his palm, leaving only his first finger pointing towards the wrinkled sheet of parchment.

"...Was that you?" he asked.

Kelvis merely blinked, then he scoffed and turned his eyes away. Taking the sound as a negative response, Zorr looked to the paper briefly and then his eyes darted about to see if another unusual thing would occur.

When nothing did, he started for the spot he had been standing in previously, however was stopped when a white light briefly shone through the windows. Zorr looked outside of his quarters, noting the blackening night sky and caught sight of a zigzagging path of light that shortly split the clouds overhead.

Just as the ship creaked as an unusually large wave bowled into its side, Zorr removed his black hat from his desk and, placing it on his head, he began to walk towards the doors of his quarters. There he placed a hand upon one of the handles and he glanced at Kelvis, looking as though he were going to say something, but he thought better of it and he exited the room.

When Mekial heard the sound of the door click shut, he crawled out from behind the desk, making sure to keep out of sight of Kelvis, as he had just allowed his invisibility spell to disappear.

Rounding to the side of the desk that the man could not see, Mekial poked his head out from around the corner to see if the Governess had awoken.

She had not; as he had seen before, she was still sleeping, her head pressed against the invisible barrier and her form still curled to better fit into the small space. The sorcerer then returned to his spot beneath the desk, his mind working to conceive an idea that would help both him and the Arkanian Prime Minister escape this ship unscathed.

At first he thought of defeating every single crewman aboard the ship. However, re-thinking this idea led to Mekial realizing that the man who had first captured Dijonay was a strong axe man, as well as a powerful sorcerer. The chances of him beating someone such as that in such a closed space as a ship were slim. And now that Dijonay did not have a lance to fight with, she would be helpless in the fight.

And so Mekial remained beneath the Captain's desk for a long while, contemplating every single plan that came to his mind and dismissing each one of them. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that when a thunderous roar was heard outside, he started and jumped, banging his head against the roof of the furniture. Though, thanks to the sound from outside, the small thump of his head colliding with the desk was unheard.

Mekial again peeked around the side of the desk that could not be seen by Kelvis in order to look out the window. His eyes were then briefly blinded with a sudden flash of white light, followed by another bodiless bellow that rattled the windows along the wall. Following the call of thunder was what sounded like fingernails rapping against the walls. A second later, Mekial found that the sound was actually rain crashing against the windowpanes of the _Maysee_.

He withdrew to the safety of the desk's shadows again. Now he knew for certain that there was no way that he and the Prime Minister would be able to escape the ship, even if they did manage to defeat every enemy on board. Mekial covered his face with his hands and let out an exasperated grunt that, fortunately, was muted by another beastly roar from the storm growing outside.

As the young sorcerer busied himself with trying to think of a plan that had even a small chance of working, he suddenly recalled Kelvis' words from earlier. According to the axe man, Link was to be arriving that night with the help of beings named "Shadows".

At the thought of the name of those creatures, a small shiver ran up Mekial's spine. He would hear rumors of the Shadows occasionally when he went through Revale with the Prime Minister.

They were beings draped in darkness, he had been told, that roamed the fields while walking on black clouds. Their communication was nothing more than hisses and if they spoke in a language known to humans their voice sounded like it came from everywhere; even in your head.

Though Mekial had his suspicions, he had kept the descriptions made by the citizens in his mind. It was information that he rarely thought about nor cared for, and it was not until now did he suddenly think of it.

But Mekial tried not to think of possibly encountering a Shadow that night. Instead he kept his hopes on the thought of Link showing up, for there was a chance that the Hyrulean would be able to help him and Dijonay escape.

And so Mekial waited, nothing but the continuous claps of thunder, explosions of white in the sky and the sound of rain pattering against the windows keeping him company.

Minutes later he lifted his eyes, weary of so much feeble planning, and spotted a large and ominous shadow growing on the wall. He tensed and pressed his back against the desk, watching as the silhouette of someone unknown to him increased in size. Numerous questions arose in his mind, among them panicking inquiries.

The presence of the shadow filled the entire room, piling into every corner and blanketing every object. Mekial gulped as this tangible blackness wrapped around him, a darkness that slowly sucked the air from his lungs.

In his panic he formed a small ball of light that just about fit into his palm and its rays instantly forced the darkness back. The sorcerer basked in the light's warmth, feeling relieved, though when his eyes drew away from it, to the growing shadow still on the wall, his good feeling instantly died.

For from the shadow a bulge was growing, inflating until it completely disconnected from its source. The bulge collapsed to the floor with a thud that Mekial heard, and he stared in disgust as another bulge erupted from the silhouette and it too fell upon the floor. Two more black lumps descended from the bowels of the shadow after that and they too tumbled to the floor, coughing and sputtering.

Mekial did not move from his spot, his imaginative mind reaching to the far extents of reality as it tried to figure what had just happened. What he did not know was that what he had just seen were the Shadows appearing in their thick mass of black clouds and the bulges that had erupted from them had been Link and his allies finally being freed of the suffocating blackness that had been inside of them.

And how black and suffocating it had been; breathing had become an action that actually needed thinking while Link and the others had been sealed inside the Shadows. There had almost been absolutely no air within them: each breath they took seemed shallower than the last and they knew that slipping into unconsciousness could result in their dying. But perhaps dying within the Shadows would have been easier than struggling to live.

And just as this thought had passed through their minds, they had been released. Air slammed into them from all sides, rushing through their nostrils and filling their lungs. Their intakes of breath had been so abrupt and uneven that they had immediately started to choke and cough. Feeling returned to their numb limbs and the cloud that had slowed their thoughts started to ebb away until it had vanished altogether.

Brent turned on to his backside, as lying on his stomach prevented him from recovering from his suffocation. He opened his eyes, still breathing heavily, and dropped his light brown irises to look at what was at his feet. His eyes then lifted upwards, as standing before him was nothing other than a Shadow, tall, dark and monstrous.

Gasping, he pulled his feet closer to himself and rolled over and then pushed himself to his feet, nearly stumbling and falling back to the ground as the _Maysee_ gave a sudden lurch.

As Brent recovered his balance the pounding of his feet drew the attention of one of the Shadows. It turned and Brent clearly saw its hollow face, with its weathered skin plastered and tightened around its humanoid skull. From the black, gaping hole on the lower half of its face came what sounded like a slow, deep and heavy exhale that froze the very blood in Brent's veins. The beast held his gaze for what felt like a long and chilling moment before it finally stepped before its comrades to face Kelvis.

Link dragged himself to his feet as his breathing leveled out; after him rose Renée and then Katrina. The three of them stepped away from the Shadows, still chained within their thick presence, and Link was the first to spot the Prime Minister laying on the ground in the corner.

Just as he stepped towards her, all at once, the heavy and malevolent atmosphere lifted. Immediately Link felt as though he could truly breathe again and he turned to see that the Shadows had vanished, nothing but a thin thread of black smoke floating in the air to show that they had once existed.

The Hyrulean's eyes were then drawn to a form standing by the double doors of the Captain's quarters and he recognized the man as Dijonay's captor. His eyes narrowed and his left hand raised to grasp the hilt of his sword.

Kelvis remained stationed in front of the door, his mind analyzing what he had been told by the Shadows. They were as precise as ever, he concluded; they had just informed him that now that they had completed their task of retrieving Link they would do no more unless directed to by Malbex. It was to be expected of course: the Shadows were not ones that normally bent their knee to any higher power and put more than enough effort into their tasks.

Kelvis then looked up from his thoughts, seeing Link first with his hand upon his weapon. Kelvis did not move but rather eyed the rest of the group stoically and when he had finished he pushed himself off the wall. He heard the soft ring of Link's sword being pulled partway out of its sheath but he ignored it and opened the doors of the room.

The scene of rain slamming against the deck was then revealed to those within the Captain's quarters; the next blare of thunder rattled their skulls and the next flash of lightning lit up both the sky and left them shortly blinded. Kelvis stepped out onto the deck, leaving the doors to swing shut as the sea vessel rocked again. Instantly he was drenched with rainwater and the wind worked to blow his now soaked and heavy hair around.

Aboard the _Maysee_'s quarterdeck crewmen scattered, hurrying to follow the orders Zorr called from the shelter deck above. After a call of thunder his voice could then be heard, crying out, "Reef the mainsails!"

Wind howled and roared as men echoed the order to one another and it drowned out their voices and sprayed their faces with ice-cold ocean and rainwater. Kelvis splashed through the pool of water that filled the quarterdeck, heading toward the stairs that led up to the platform that the Captain was standing on.

Once upon that deck, Kelvis approached the helm to see the Captain standing behind it. Zorr tore his gaze away from the black, stormy weather before him to look to the growing silhouette of Kelvis as he advanced. Kelvis stopped a few feet away from the Captain and spoke with his voice raised over another howl of the storm: "Link's here; it's only a matter of time before Malbex shows up."

Zorr merely nodded, not knowing what else to do or say in reply to the information. The idea of Malbex arriving on his ship was somewhat nerve-racking he had to admit, even though the man had promised Zorr a sizable sum of money in exchange for his aid.

In truth, Zorr had had his doubts on receiving his reward. The only way he would be able to find out if this man, Malbex, was true to his word, was to follow through with the plan until after he had his hands on Link's Triforce piece and the shard of Power.

And yet, even as he thought this, he was still leaning into believing his doubting thoughts.

Below the deck he was standing on, in his quarters, Mekial hesitantly withdrew from his hiding place. He crawled around the side of the desk that could not easily be seen and he poked his head around the corner, attempting to see the faces of the ones who had been deposited into the room.

He instantly recognized Link's face and upon seeing the Hyrulean relief washed through him. The next pointy-eared being Mekial did not recognize, nor could he try to for her hair covered most of her face.

The second girl was very familiar to him, though he could not quite recall what her name was or where he had seen her before. He knew that he had seen her before he had become the Prime Minister's Guard...or was it after? Either way, he knew that he knew her in some way...

Then, resting his eyes on Brent, Mekial recalled seeing a photo of him as a child hidden beneath a pile of papers that had been on Dijonay's desk years ago. However, as soon as he had picked it up the Prime Minister herself had walked in and had snatched the picture from his hands, ordering for him to never sift through her belongings again. From that point on he had never seen another picture of Brent, nor had he tried to ask who he was.

Looking at the Hylian in this light Mekial noticed that there were some features of his face that were similar to Dijonay's: their eye shape for instance, as well as the curve of their nose. Mekial stared at Brent's face before dropping his gaze to the still figure of Dijonay in the corner.

He then watched and listened as Link spoke to his comrades about what had just happened. From their chat the sorcerer discovered that they had been planning to board the_ Maysee_ while it was still docked at the harbors of Peluma. The only downfall in their plan was that the ship had sailed away from the city by the time they had arrived and as they were thinking of a new idea they were attacked by Shadows, which then brought them to where they currently were.

Mekial silently watched as the group then fell silent, wondering what their next steps should be. The silence was then broken when Link pointed out Dijonay's crumpled body against the side of the room.

Brent was the first one to make his way towards the Prime Minister, with Renée close at his heels. Mekial flinched and turned his head away, knowing what was to happen next: Brent collided, face-first, with the invisible barrier that held the Arkanian Governess against the wall. Renée crashed into it after him, taking a couple of steps backward while Brent had completely toppled to the floor with the reversed flow of his momentum.

Rubbing his nose, he stood to his feet and eyed the barrier around his younger sibling before it had gotten the chance to evaporate from sight. "What is that thing?"

All eyes were glued to the barrier as it vanished and, gone unnoticed by everyone in the room, Dijonay shifted in her sleep again. No one said a word and Mekial mustered up his courage and came out of his hiding place. He placed a hand upon the desk as he hoisted himself to his feet and stood beside it.

"It's a Proclaimer," he said. All but Link started at the sound of his voice and they turned to face him. Mekial noticed a hint of relief appear in Link's gaze as he looked to him, as well as spot the look of absolute shock upon the face of Renée. She took a small step forward and forced her voice to remain even when she spoke:

"Who are you?" She then swallowed and waited with bated breath for Mekial, her younger brother, to respond.

"Mekial Deon," the sorcerer replied. "I'm the Prime Minister's Guard." He then said no more, as the feeling of familiarity with the girl that he had earlier coursed through him again.

He believed her face was now narrower than he had last seen it, though it bore close resemblance to a girl he had seen so many years ago, on the night he had been taken in as the Prime Minister's personal bodyguard.

Yes, that was right—it had been before he had become the Governess' Guard! It had been before he had even been nominated; he had known this girl his entire life...!

And then, in a flood of images, he remembered, and sitting atop those memories was her name:

Renée Deon.

"Ren..." Mekial's brow furrowed and he took an awkward step in her direction. Brent stepped out of Renée's path, waiting for her to approach her younger sibling and, possibly, give him a tight embrace.

But instead the Arkanian stood frozen, her mind unable to register what was happening nor what she should do. Instead she let Mekial come to her; instead she let him wrap his arms around her.

Once the feeling of her brother's arms had reached and been registered by her mind, Renée returned the hug of Mekial, resting the side of her cheek against the top of his head.

Gazing at this before her, an odd feeling arose in the pit of Katrina's stomach. She let her mind be engrossed by the feeling before she finally figured what it was: longing. Or perhaps it was a feeling of reminiscing. She could remember the days when she would return home and her mother would hug her in that same way...

Katrina tore her eyes away from the siblings as they parted, a tear collecting in the corner of one of her eyes. She quickly brushed it away and sniffed, hoping that no one had seen the break in her usually solid appearance. Truly, she believed, it wasn't fair.

Renée held her brother at arm's length, sniffing and wiping a tear from her eye. She then cracked a small smile before she dropped her arms by her sides. "I'm glad you're all right," she started and, unable to find the words to explain how happy she was to see him again, she merely asked, "So then...what's a 'Proclaimer'?"

"It's this shield that's around her," Mekial said, dropping his eyes to the Prime Minister. "Well, it's a shield originally, but here it's been used as a cage. It protects her from any sort of attack as well as any kind of sound."

"So she can't hear us?" Brent asked.

Mekial nodded. "And the other way around."

"Can't you break it?" Link said, interrupting Mekial as he had opened his mouth to continue. He clamped his mouth shut and, after a brief second of thinking, he nodded.

The sorcerer then approached the Proclaimer, ignorant of Dijonay moving within her small space again. This time her eyes fluttered open, her vision hazy until it finally cleared, and when it did the first thing she saw was Mekial standing in front of her, slowly extending his hands over her body.

At first she thought that he was going to press his hands against the wall, but then she realized that a barrier that surrounded her had stopped his palms. Once his hands had touched the Proclaimer it shimmered into view and she sat up hurriedly, her eyes darting around as she noticed how closed in she was. She tried to speak but the sound of her words was deafened by the gag over her mouth.

Dijonay then tried to move her hands in order to remove the cloth and her heart sank when she realized that her wrists were bound together with thick and heavily knotted ropes. The Prime Minister whimpered and then she looked up, her eyes resting on the sight of ripples spreading across the surface of the Proclaimer, their source being Mekial's hands.

The sorcerer's eyes were closed in concentration and his hands were glowing as he forced his magic to pour into the Proclaimer, hopefully to imbalance its strength and cause it to burst. Once the ripples had covered the Proclaimer's surface, the mystic glow around Mekial's hands died and the ripples vibrated; in the next second, the entire Proclaimer had shattered, spraying its fragments across the floor.

The Proclaimer having fallen Dijonay sprang to her feet, a feeling of release overwhelming and cooling her senses. A disgruntled and undecipherable grunt escaped her covered mouth and she moved her hands to show that she needed them to be untied.

Renée drew the knife from the sheath on her leg and walked to Dijonay's backside where she began to cut the ropes that held her hands bound. Brent untied the cloth around her mouth and he tossed it to the ground when it came undone. A deep sigh escaped Dijonay's mouth when the cloth was removed and once her hands fell by her sides she drew them to her chest and rubbed her wrists.

"Thank you," she said, looking to Brent. She then dropped her eyes to Mekial and Renée. "And you as well." In reply the two nodded and Dijonay lifted her eyes to look to Link. Her eyebrows creased with worry when she recognized him and she pressed her lips together. "Link," she started, taking a small step forward. "You...you don't have the shard with you, do you?"

Link blinked, confused as to why the Governess would ask such a question. "Of course I do," he answered. And the response to this statement was a downcast expression appearing on the Prime Minister's face.

"I thought as much," she said, pressing a palm to her forehead and running her fingers through her mahogany-colored hair. "Though, I had hoped that you would not have it with you."

"Why not?"

"These men," Dijonay started, her eyes upon the floor and fixed in deep concentration upon a certain spot, "are sinister." She then exhaled deeply and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry; I was careless when I had been taken by that man in Talis. I was...nothing more than bait for you." She then lifted her eyes to meet Link's and spoke her words quietly enough so that only he could hear, "They wanted you here Link—they want the shard that you hold as well as the Triforce piece that you hold within your body." At this, Link's eyes flinched and a minuscule gasp escaped him.

He had told no one that he was the owner of a piece of the Triforce. How was it that the men aboard this ship had found out?

"I had overheard this when I had first appeared in the harbor," Dijonay continued. "The man who had captured me, Kelvis, spoke with the captain of this ship. Zorr, I believe his name was."

At this, Link felt disheartened. Zorr had been the one who had willingly given him a free ride to the country of Arkania—the first person to have given him a good impression of the world outside of Hyrule. With this in mind, Link could find no reason as to what would lead the man to participate in a plot to harm him. His jaw tightened and his hands clenched by his sides.

"But Link, we all must get out of here," Dijonay went on, her voice resolute even as Link broke eye contact with her. "I should have been more careful. I wish that I had never asked for your help in this—perhaps then you might have been spared..."

"No." Dijonay blinked at Link's disagreement. He drew his eyes away from the sight of the inclement weather outside the windows to look to the Prime Minister. "Even if you hadn't asked for my help, I would've been dragged into this eventually. What with this Triforce piece and all." Link looked down to his hand, to the part of his glove that covered the birthmark upon its backside.

Although he had heard of the Triforce being a sacred and holy item, although he knew the magnificent power that the relic held, Link was feeling as though it was more of a curse. Now that he thought about it, the Triforce of Courage had given him more trouble than good—it had torn him from his normal, calm way of life and forced upon him the responsibility of saving his entire homeland.

It had changed his entire life—whether for better or for worse—and he knew now that it would never be the same. Now he was learning that other people wanted the power within him, that other people would do anything to get it. It was overwhelming to think of all the enemies he might soon make, to think of all of the new things he would soon encounter.

And all because of this stupid _triangle_.

He coiled a fist, his fingers digging into the palm of his glove. He sometimes wished that he had never picked up that letter from Princess Zelda. Sometimes he wished that he had never let his curiosity get the best of him.

But that wish...was so vain.

He could not undo what the goddesses had possibly ordained. He could not undo that the Triforce of Courage had selected him as its next owner. He could not change the fact that because of his ownership of it malevolent, greedy people would attack him. Sooner or later he would have to give in to his new life—possibly his calling.

Link shook that last thought away. Surely he was not called by the goddesses to be subject to numerous attacks in order to gain what was in him. Surely he had not really been called to become some sort of hero, like the previous owners of the Triforce. Surely not someone like him, a shepherd, could even handle that sort of purpose?

"Even so," Dijonay's voice interrupted his thoughts and Link slipped back into reality, "I apologize for dragging you into this."

Link shook his head. "Don't beat yourself over it."

The Governess did not respond to this statement.

"So, what do we do now?" Renée asked when she had noticed that the two had fallen silent, enveloped in their deep thoughts. "Getting off of this ship is going to be impossible with this weather."

"Not to mention there are a lot of crewmen," Mekial added. "And that Kelvis. And...possibly Malbex."

Dijonay's eyes widened and she looked to Mekial, genuine horror upon her face. The sound of Malbex's name had brought back her memory of seeing him stationed by her bedside at night, his gleaming red eyes boring into hers and standing out against his pale skin and pure white hair. "Malbex..." she repeated softly. Saying the name even wrought a sense of fear over her. "He's coming here?"

Mekial nodded. "I overheard basically the same thing that you heard earlier, when you were knocked out in the Proclaimer," he explained, "and that somehow he'd end up with the shard of Power that we found in Talis, as well as Link's Triforce piece."

"Did you hear anything else?" the Prime Minister pushed, hoping that there would be more information to aid them in thinking of a possible escape. To her dismay, Mekial shook his head.

"Other than something about Link being framed, no."

This sparked an interest in the minds of all those standing around Mekial. The spark was shown in their eyes as all of them locked their gaze upon the young sorcerer. Feeling unsettled by the sudden change in their stares, Mekial took a small step backward.

"Link? Framed?" Renée repeated the words, her voice rising with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"It has to do with the Isle Massacre, I know that," Mekial answered, still feeling slightly uncomfortable. "I heard the Captain say that the government will deal with Link's 'framed offense to the Corva Isles' after he gets his Triforce piece taken away. But it doesn't make sense; there weren't any survivors and so no one can even say that Link really did it..."

In the back of the group, Katrina felt her blood run cold. Her mind froze. Her heart clenched. Her eyes widened and their whites were visible beneath her long bangs.

Steadily her green eyes slid to her right to look at Link. He appeared undaunted by this piece of information and something in the back of her mind told her that the only reason for that could only be that he already knew he was innocent.

_No!_

There was no way that could be possible, she argued with herself. There was no way that what she had seen the day of the Isle Massacre was an illusion. She had proof—witnesses, including herself. If she were to ask all of those who had survived that horrific day, all of them would say that they had seen Link, the man standing before her, lead the army of Shadows to destroy the Corva Isles. How could it be possible that he had been framed?

A rage like one she had never felt since the Isle Massacre bubbled within her. Her fingers curled into her palms, digging into her skin and sending small tingles of pain through her hand. Her lips curled back to reveal her clenched teeth and she dropped her head, trembling as she attempted to maintain control over her fury.

"His 'framed offense'?" Dijonay repeated. She recalled the day when she had first heard the news of the Corva Isles' devastation. She had not been informed if there had been any survivors and so she had assumed that every single Corvenian had been wiped off the face of the earth. The details of the destruction on those islands had been described to her and she had shuddered when she tried to imagine it.

Who could have done such a thing? She had wondered this many times throughout the course of the rest of that day. Though, she could do nothing to try and locate the evildoer—she had no description of what he looked like and thus she had no idea who to look for.

The Governess looked up to Link whose face was now unreadable. If what Mekial had overheard was true, Link had been framed for a mass-murder. No—it had to be true. She had gotten to know Link, even though it was only a little bit. The Link that she knew would never have killed so many innocent people.

Brent did not say anything to this and neither did Renée, for the two of them had also gotten to know who Link was. From the character that they had witnessed and hung around with, they could not imagine the same person raising his sword to a civilian.

Mekial pressed his lips together, unsure of what else to say. The grim expressions of those in the room with him were nerve-racking and unsettling, making him even more uncomfortable. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, making a face when the storm outside roared ferociously.

"It sounds like it's gotten worse," Renée noted, looking out of the window in worry.

Dijonay turned to face the windows as well, her face falling when she saw how upset the ocean was and how the wind was blowing furiously, whipping the downpour of rain in multiple directions at once. Mekial approached the window and pressed a palm against one of the panes. He stared over the black horizon thoughtfully and a plan was finally conjured in his mind. A plan that he believed had more than a small chance of success. He faced the others behind him, his hand still upon the window.

"I think I know how we can get out of here."


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty-Seven**

He hated it.

Rain rushing around him, causing his clothing to press tightly against his body—he hated it.

Wind howling in his ears—he hated it.

Continuous flashes of lightning and deep and vehement rolls of thunder—he hated it.

Malbex stood in the center of the _Maysee_'s quarterdeck, his now soaked sleeve sliding down his arm to cover the bracelet that had the Grell pressed into it. A gleam of irritation was in his blood-red eyes as he looked over the deck, watching as crewmen worked to make sure that the _Maysee_ lasted through the awful weather.

Malbex had arrived aboard the ship not too long ago, as soon as his Seeker had revealed to him the sight of the Shadows dumping Link and his company into the quarters of Captain Zorr. He had then proceeded to take a short walk to the edge of the island he had been on before he used the Grell, as when you are closer to your destination the Grell does not use as much of your strength.

The walk had been one of about ten minutes and from the edge of the island Malbex was able to see the gray clouds that spread over the Great Sea and the darker, stormy ones that were close to their center. Although he had been greatly annoyed when he was immediately washed with rainwater upon his arrival, Malbex had not allowed it to interrupt what he was planning to do.

His eyes then flicked to his left, as he suddenly felt someone looking at him. And he was right: staring at him, his mouth agape and his brown eyes wide in both surprise and fear, was a member of the _Maysee_ crew. The man nearly lost hold of the rope he was clinging to and as he felt it slip his head snapped away from Malbex and he pulled on the line until he was able to tie it down.

Malbex turned away from the man and made his way towards the doors of the Captain's quarters. Beneath his feet the ship tilted, causing the pool of water on the deck to be partly emptied back into the Great Sea.

Despite himself, Malbex shortly wished that he could be back in his second hiding spot, which was one of the still intact homes somewhere in the Corva Isles. He had not returned to his makeshift home in the Twilight Realm since he had first departed it, as he believed that going back and forth between dimensions with the Grell would tire him and expend his strength. It was a risk he was not willing to take.

However he knew that in due time he would need to return to the Twilight Realm in order to feed his probably starving brother, Morbex. But he did not let that thought linger in his mind for long, as he was preoccupied with what he was going to do now.

And that was to perform a most terrible spell: one that would result in the Triforce of Courage finally being in his hands.

The very idea of it caused a happiness to bubble within him. By the end of the storm he would finally have it: one piece of the Triforce and the shard of another one. After that he would move on to find the other shards of the Triforce of Power and then extract the piece that the Hylian Princess had. The very thought of seeing that young woman screaming in agony as he ripped her soul apart made him eager to continue with his plan.

_Soon, Father... _

A small smile crept across his face, hidden by the high collar that presently flapped around his face.

_Soon you'll see._

Suddenly the _Maysee's_ stern exploded.

Glass shattered and sprinkled into the sea, followed by the broken frames of windows and long planks of wood. The wind howled, picking up speed and carrying handfuls of glass and adding this to the storm.

Crewmen grunted in shock as their skin was abruptly cut by an unknown object and Malbex's eyes narrowed when a shard of glass cut across his cheek, drawing blood.

Cold wind blew into his face through the crack between the double doors of the Captain's quarters. The explosion that had happened behind them had rattled them immensely though they had remained firmly locked.

Above them Kelvis looked over the railing of the shelter deck and in that moment he caught sight of Malbex—though, Malbex did not take any notice of him.

Kelvis turned back to the Captain who had moved to the railing on the back of the shelter deck. "What do you see?" he called to him.

"M-my ship..." Zorr whispered, his eyes bulging as he looked down to the stern.

In it, where his office was located, there was a large hole that took up nearly the entire room's back wall. Standing the closest to this severe damage was Mekial, his hands outstretched. The boy then opened his eyes, one and then the other, and then he let his arms fall by his sides.

"You did it!" Renée cheered, throwing her arms into the air.

Mekial nodded to her and then he refaced the hole before him, his eyes squinted as now there was nothing to protect him from the storm. Those that were behind him also blocked their eyes, squinting through the storm to watch the second half of Mekial's plan.

The mage took a deep breath and held his hands out in front of him, his palms facing upward and slightly cupped. He then placed his hands together, leaving a space in between them, and he began to move them in a wide and circular motion as though he were stirring something in a large pot.

Beneath his moving hands, the once disorganized ocean began to submit to his will and a small section of it just above the ship's rudder began to rotate in the same direction as Mekial's hands. As he moved his arms around, Mekial lifted them into the air repeatedly before he would drop them at their original level and whenever he did that a whirling tube of water would poke out of the whirlpool—just a few feet—and would fall back down.

As Mekial went through with this process the doors of the quarters were blown to smithereens. The force that had knocked them down was so powerful that each of them went flying out of the hole the young sorcerer had blown in the ship's backside.

His concentration broken Mekial whipped around along with Link and the others, their eyes widening when they spotted Malbex standing in the doorway, his red eyes inflamed when he saw what they had done.

With a snapping sound and a small spark a single blue flame appeared beside him, inflating until it filled up the entire doorway and blocked him from view. The blue fireball hovered in the air for a moment, its light being reflected off the stunned faces of Link and his accomplices, before it shot forward with a speed that boggled their minds.

As Malbex's bolide had been growing in size, Mekial had stuck one of his arms behind him, waving it around in circles before he raised it, dragging a large, spherical body of water out of the ocean. Pools of water fell from this water ball, emptying its innards—though the ball was only half emptied when the blue ball of fire had shot towards them.

Keeping one hand behind him Mekial raised his other hand and in the short seconds that he had, brought up a forcefield. Unfortunately, the barrier was only partly made when the fireball had made contact with it, shattering it completely but still managing to cause the bolide to lose most of its strength. Rather than setting he and his friends aflame the fireball exploded in front of them, spraying blue flames across the room and blowing them clear out of the ship.

The six of them, yelling, splashed into the water sphere that Mekial had made and their open mouths were quickly filled with liquid. The sorcerer of the group let out another cry that emitted from his mouth as nothing but bubbles and the rest of the water in the sphere immediately drained out.

Coughing and choking on air and the water that flooded their systems, Link and his company fell to the base of the watery sphere. As soon as Mekial had slipped to the sphere's bottom he crawled towards its side that was closest to the ship.

He then choked out a cry of shock and then coughed and gurgled on that cry when he saw that the doorway of the Captain's quarters was now filled with three large blue balls of fire, their flames licking at the edges of the doorframe and scorching the walls around it.

Mekial then stuttered out a spell and pressed his palms to the water orb's sides, a blast of clear colored mist shooting out of them. The mist surrounded the entire bubble and then solidified into a shield just as Malbex's fireballs flew forward, and the barrier absorbed each of them.

The young sorcerer then let his hands slide to the orb's bottom and his arms trembled, threatening to release and allow him to collapse.

But he could not stop just yet.

He pushed himself to his feet and began to wave his arms around him, each movement heavier than the last as he gathered the rowdy winds of the storm. He then formed the winds that he had gathered into a tight, invisible space that was around twice the size of the object that he was standing in.

Thankful that the fireballs that Malbex hurled were providing a decent cover Mekial pressed his hands together, struggling to maintain control over the winds that were not used to being held still by a force that was not their own.

Finally, Mekial's fingers laced together and he made his hands remain that way as more, smaller winds blew and crowded with the ones that he had manipulated. Thunder boomed overhead, muffled and distorted by the water that he was secured in; the sound partly distracted his mind but Mekial quickly regained his focus.

But there was something else that was occupying part of Mekial's thoughts. It continued to try and gain all of the sorcerer's attention but he would force it back and keep his mind on the container of wind before him.

Mekial did not even know what it was that was trying to interrupt his concentration and it was not until a few seconds later did he realize what it was: his curiosity. And it was wondering something:

Why was it suddenly so quiet?

But there was a storm out. There was no such thing as 'quiet' right now. But this is not the kind of quiet that Mekial's curiosity was wondering about. It was wondering why the sound of roaring balls of flame had died away.

Mekial did not dare to open an eye to see why Malbex had ceased his attacks, for he partly feared what he would see. Those worries were only reinforced when he heard someone behind him utter half of a curse.

And Mekial heard it while the others saw it: the sound of a sea vessel, nailed and fitted into its form, suddenly being pried and broken apart.

What Mekial did not see was the entire upper half of the _Maysee _being slowly ripped apart from its bottom piece. Everything upon the upper decks—the main, mizzen and foremasts, the shrouds, crewmen—including the upper decks themselves, was lifted into the air and suspended there. Flashes of lightning bounced off of it, briefly illuminating the sight of crewmen falling into the depths of the sea.

The captain had begun to slip backward as the floor beneath him was raised and held diagonal against the level of the horizon. As he was falling down he threw his arms out and grabbed the steering wheel—though he lost his black hat in the process.

Zorr looked down to see where it had gone and he caught sight of it just before he lost it to the black waves below. He then looked up to see Kelvis standing at the top of the platform, perfectly balanced upon the part of the stern that had been ripped off. He cast a fleeting glance over his shoulder before he leaped from the platform, landing feet from Malbex's right hand side.

Malbex though, had not noticed Kelvis' arrival. His eyes remained fixed upon the ball of water before him, locked on the silhouettes of Link and his company within.

And then, by only thinking about it, he raised the half of the ship above his head like a javelin and he flipped it around so that the bowsprit was facing the water bubble.

As the ship's half rotated, crewmen were sent soaring off of it, their screams of terror fading as they flew miles away. Zorr grunted as the ship was turned, his mind dizzied and his legs numb as they were lifted and swung in the air by the force of the twirl. His eyes squeezed shut and when he felt that he had stopped moving he opened them to see the black abyss of the sky.

Zorr looked over his shoulder, spotting the other half of the ship that was still in the water. Perhaps if he slid down the decks of the _Maysee_ he would be able to fall to its other half before its floating half was used for something dangerous.

Hesitantly, Zorr began to unwind his arms from the helm while clenching his eyes shut. Then, he released the wheel and plummeted.

Rain lashed at him as he tumbled down the deck and wind whipped into his eyes, forcing him to clench them shut again. Zorr fell off of the suspended part of his ship and he plunged to the other half of it, his stomach flipping all the way. A yell bubbled out of his throat, dying against a blare of thunder and his eyes were wide as his roofless and burnt quarters grew in size. Just as he thought he would surely die, hecrashed into Kelvis' shoulder pads and bounced off of him, then landed in a crumpled heap on the ground.

Kelvis did not show any sign of him having noticed the body that had fallen into him but rather watched what Malbex would do next.

Behind him, Zorr rose to his feet, caressing his left side as that had been the part of him that had landed. Immense pain was coursing through his body from that spot, paining him even more with every inhale that he took.

In front of him Malbex was glaring at the water bubble, watching as Mekial waved his arms around him and out of his peripheral vision Malbex caught sight of winds revolving and blowing around in a centered spot. At first he thought it unusual and a split second later his mind registered what was happening.

The corners of his eyes flinched and the ship half above him shot forward, bowsprit in front and poised to burst Mekial's water sphere.

Mekial's laced hands could no longer compress the winds any longer. His arms were shaking and his fingers were trembling, threatening to pry apart of their own. He had at first wanted to hold the winds together, to keep them bottled up so that they could gather more and more strength—but now had to be enough.

He separated his hands and with that motion the container of winds in front of him ruptured, allowing the winds inside of it to travel towards the water bubble as the sorcerer had wanted them to, pushing it forward and blasting it far over the Great Sea with a speed that by far exceeded a Hover Board's quickest velocity. He was sent toppling to the ground and those that were with him flattened themselves against the sphere's base, their voices melting in their throats.

Not only had the winds blown Mekial and his allies far out to sea but they had also blown Malbex's ship half off course, causing it to fly backward and land with a large and heavy splash into the ocean. The waves that it caused made its other half careen and bob away from it, turning it away from the direction that it had once faced.

Malbex clenched a fist by his side and his eyes narrowed. How was it that when he had been so close everything had been blown out of his reach? His teeth clenched and his posture tightened as he seethed.

Kelvis stared at the spot where the bubble Mekial had conjured had once been in. He did not say a word though, for fear that the sound of his speaking would anger Malbex further. But this concern was diminished when Zorr gained the nerve to speak.

"They're...gone," he said, wincing and grabbing his side again. He then stepped a few feet ahead of Malbex, staring at the spot where Link and the others had once been. "Just like that."

Malbex's eyes thinned and his eyes shot from the spot Zorr was also looking to in order to look at the Captain himself.

He had been so _close_...

And now, because of that single event, his entire plan was being delayed.

But when he thought this, Malbex's eyes averted from Zorr and his anger subsided only a little.

That was right; his plan had only been delayed. It was not as though he would not be able to locate Link and his companions again. Perhaps even now Malbex would make a few alterations to his plan—alterations that would allow him to do less work.

He took a small breath and with that steady inhale his nerves calmed. "Your ship," he said, looking to Zorr again, "is destroyed." The captain did not turn to look at him, but instead he kept a firm grip upon his still aching side as his silky and wet hair blew clumsily in the wind.

Zorr then looked up to the black sky and then he dropped his gaze to the shredded walls of his quarters and he dared not look behind him to see the rest of the devastation that had befallen his ship. It saddened him to think that this sea vessel that had survived through so much had now, finally, met its end. He exhaled slowly and dropped his hand to his side and the ache there increased.

"Yeah," he said softly. "It is."

"...Do you know how you're going to get to shore without it?"

"I hadn't thought of something like that."

"I see. And as for your payment..."

"Keep it."

Malbex paused and blinked his crimson eyes, though he did not say anything more, as he had not even planned to give him the money he had offered in the first place.

"I don't want it anymore," the captain continued, his eyes growing distant. "What good is it anyway? As soon as my ship was destroyed, I knew that I would probably be dying tonight." He dropped his head, tearing his eyes away from the black sky and he stared at the burnt floor beneath his feet. He slid one of his shoes backward a small inch, scraping up bits of scorched wood. " 'A good Captain always goes down with his ship', aye?"

Malbex's expression darkened and a small smirk crept across his face.

And with a tilt of his head he ordered for Kelvis to step forward and the man obeyed, drawing his ax that sang out of its sheath as he approached the _Maysee_ captain.

Zorr breathed out a long sigh, inwardly surprised when he discovered that his escaping breath was not shaky. He knew he was about to die—about to feel the cold metal of Kelvis' ax slide through his flesh, and this inevitable fate drew nearer with every advancing thump of Kelvis' shoes.

Yet, even as he knew that, he was not trembling or sweating. His heart was not even racing, almost as though his body had long been prepared for his death before his mind was willing to accept it. Zorr wondered if he should be trembling or if he should be frightened.

But of course he should be; anyone would be afraid to die and they would perhaps be especially afraid when they knew that their death was staring them in the eyes, slowly extending its hand to clutch them and steal their soul away from the world.

Anyone would be afraid when they saw their lifetime's clock beginning to tick slower and slower until it finally came to a halt.

And slower and slower ticked Zorr's clock, its ticking so loud that its sound was the only thing that the man could hear. Never again would he see the light of day; never again would he be able to greet his crewmen or call out orders to them. Never again would his eyes gaze out over the blue horizon, watching as the waves of the sea grazed the _Maysee'_s sides or lap a sandy shore.

And as these thoughts passed through his mind, his body suddenly stiffened and his ears registered the fact that Kelvis had ceased walking upon the charred floorboards.

The charred floorboards of his ship—just as the ship's time had ended, so too would Zorr's. His life was over; he could not run, could not hide, could not fight back. If he did such things he would only delay the unavoidable.

Then his body began to tremble, ever so subtly. He could feel the fear stream from his brain to flow throughout his entire body and the emotion jarred his nerves and made his body shake beyond his control. He clenched his teeth, silently praying that Kelvis would get it over with, wishing that the man would simply raise his ax and strike him down, just to end his apprehension.

He did not know if he was shaking and scared because of death. He did not know if he wanted death to embrace him. He did not know if he was tired of life. So many things he did not know, but he knew that these wonders would be eliminated as soon as he was cut down like wheat in a field—for Zorr knew how easily Kelvis could cut through him.

Finally he heard it: the sound of Kelvis' cloak brushing back as the man raised his arms, his artillery hoisted high in the stormy air. The sky was then split by white cracks and the light from these slits bounced off of Kelvis' ax, giving it a brief glare and casting the weapon's fearsome shadow on the ground, feet in front of Zorr.

And with a small grunt, Kelvis swung his arms in a downward arch, dragging the blades of his ax down and into Zorr's flesh. The Captain let out a gasp of pain and that gasp increased in volume until he was yelling—it hurt so much...

Kelvis' ax cleanly swiped through Zorr's back, ripping apart the skin and tearing his innards, allowing blood to spray outward; some of it landed on the front of Kelvis' armor and dots of it landed on his face, only to be smeared by the heavy rain. He then rose to his full height, drawing his ax up from the ground and permitting the rainwater to rinse it clean. Silently he watched as the man before him sank to his knees, his head upturned towards the sky with his mouth opened in a silent scream.

Through his steadily dimming vision, Zorr turned his eyes to their corners, catching the blurry silhouette of Malbex in his sight. The pale-faced man's expression was unemotional as he stared at the captain, though behind his scarlet eyes he laughed at the man's naïvity—to think that, in the very beginning, he had decided to join with his plan all for a ridiculous sum of money that Malbex was never really going to hand over to him.

And as a result of his falling for such a childish bribe he was now here, slowly slipping out of reality in a pool of his own blood.

_A fitting end._

Zorr turned his eyes away from Malbex and stared up at the black sky and his mind began to fill with his dying regrets: he had not been able to pass his ship down to anyone like he had planned. He had not ventured across the world via the seas as he had planned. He had not found out the reasons behind Malbex's requesting his aid in his plan—he had not even found out what his plan was.

And as his vision furred as darkness began to close around him, he wondered what Malbex's intentions were. Why would he secretly ask for a crew to wait and take a Hylian across the Great Sea? If he had wanted this Hylian to have a way of transportation, why would he have not waited for him? Why would he just leave as soon as the preparations were complete? And why was it that the Hylian he had escorted had been framed by Malbex's doing?

With each question that passed through his mind his senses dulled even more to the point where his thoughts became monotonous humming. His strength decreased rapidly and he could no longer hold his head up; he dropped it and his eyes fell to his knees and his shoulders instantly slumped. His eyelids sagged over his eyes and all the remaining strength in him died, forcing him to collapse onto his side. As his head landed on the ground his face and hair were instantly stained with his escaping blood.

And in his last seconds of life he wondered: was this how Darwin felt when he had struck him when the boy had been told to retrieve Link earlier that night?

Then his breath snaked passed his lips as a long and breathless sigh and its sound fell against deaf ears as the wind howled softly.

Malbex looked away from the corpse, undeterred, and looked out over the black ocean. His frowning mouth then curled upward into an unnerving smile that was hidden, once again, behind his clothing.

_Soon_, he thought.

Soon he would get what he wanted. Soon everyone would see.


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

The call of seagulls could be heard echoing in the bay and their softly beating wings moved to the steady rhythm of the quietly whistling wind. At odd points in time, one of these sea birds would turn its beak towards the sandy shores and, its beady black eyes spotting something attractive on the beach, it would tuck in its wings and dive downward to see what it was. If it were food, the fowl would eat; if it were trash, the bird would jet back towards the sky in extreme disappointment.

Out of these small-minded creatures, one of them spotted a figure lying face-up in the sand, their eyes closed and their clothes and hair drenched with seawater. The seagull dove for the shore and came to a landing beside the being, first observing their pointy ears and their long nose and then their wet and matted hair.

Its head cocking to and fro, the bird waddled closer with its eyes locked upon this being's hair. When beside the person it leaned forward and opened its beak, then closed it around a clump of the person's hair and yanked—and with a start, the owner of the hair awoke and let out a grunt of pain, sending the seagull fleeing for the skies in panic.

Link dragged one of his hands through the grainy sand and ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the spot where he had felt the strange pull. He scratched at this spot, for it still stung, and then he gradually drew himself up into a sitting position, his shoulders slumped and his head turned towards the ground.

Then his azure eyes fluttered open and he blinked in the bright light of the morning sun. Squinting and his eyeballs burning as they adjusted to the lighting, Link peered to his feet, where he saw the water of the ocean lapping at the soles of his boots. He drew his feet away from the body of water and then looked around, his eyes having finally gotten used to the sunlight.

Distant specks of far-off islands could be seen in the ocean in front of him. Behind him there was a thick mass of birch trees, their closely set leaves and the bushes at their bases blocking the view of anything that may lay beyond them. Link staggered to his feet, holding his head as a sudden but brief dizziness overcame him.

Now standing, the Hyrulean searched the beach for any sign of his comrades, for he suddenly recalled the events of the night before. Yet, no matter which way he looked, all that he saw was the sand of the shore—as far as he could tell, he was standing there without company.

His brow furrowed with worry and he turned his eyes to the ocean, trying to see if he could possibly spot at least one of his allies somewhere out there. Yet, just as before, he did not see anyone.

As soon as his once tired mind registered this, Link suddenly wondered: what if a Shadow had taken them?

He spun on his heel and tore for the small cluster of trees behind him then, swatting low branches out of his path and his boots crunching through bushes and fallen branches. Small birds zipped by him as he disturbed their nests, but he ignored them and continued to troop forward with a movement that was slowed by the surrounding and thick foliage.

With a pounding heart Link forced himself to step faster, stumbling and tripping over plant life that he could not see beyond the bushes that obscured his legs from the knee down. He trekked through this sea of green for only a short while and just as he began to think that it must stretch on for much further than he had thought, his ankle caught a loop in a root that protruded from the soil. With all of his body weight now used against him, Link hurtled for the ground, tumbling and rolling down a hill that he probably would have fallen down anyway, what with his limited vision.

When he had finally stopped rolling and came to the base of the hill he pushed himself up and shook the leaves and dirt out of his face. When the last of the leafage had been shaken out of his sight, he was able to look around the area and found that he was standing in a small clearing.

To his left was the hill he had slid down, the closely spaced trees he had been walking through standing innocently atop of it, and to his right there was a layer of woody plants that were more spread out, allowing him to see the green plain that lay beyond them. Link made to step towards that plain, but the sound of leaves rustling from somewhere in front of him halted him in his tracks.

He turned his eyes towards the spot that the sound had come from and lifted his left hand to grasp the hilt of his sword. With a faint ring he drew it out and its silver blade gleamed in the light of the sun that shone through the canopy above him.

With his breath nearly silent Link proceeded to grab hold of his shield, all the while his eyes glued to where he could see the faintest hint of leaves moving. And then the moving leaves were parted and Link's body locked itself into a battle position.

And Brent's face appeared.

Link straightened up and put away his weapons as Brent pulled the rest of his body through the trees until he, too, was standing in the clearing.

"There you are," Brent panted and it was then Link noticed that the young Hylian's face was glowing with sweat. "We were looking for you."

"We?" Link repeated in confusion, but at the same time a wave of relief washed over him and Brent nodded. Then he turned back to face the direction that he had come from. "This way." He vanished into the trees.

Suddenly feeling a small chill run up his spine Link cast a wary glance over his shoulder, tensing when he spotted another small movement in the trees behind him.

He relaxed when only a small bird jumped out of the green leafage and ascended towards the clear sky. He then turned back to where Brent had once stood and then stepped into the wooded area, the leaves of the trees closing around him as he ventured into their depths.

Yet even as he had turned, another small movement in the trees where he had looked caused the leaves to rustle quietly.

Link followed Brent as he led him through the woods and here Link found it easier to move, as the trees were more spread apart and there were little to no bushes, allowing him to be able to clearly see where his feet were going.

The two trekked through the hot place for no more than a few minutes before Brent stopped and pushed aside a low and thin branch, revealing a dirt soil clearing on what Link presumed to be a cliff.

Brent led Link into this area. "After we all found each other we split up to look for you," he explained. "We said we'd meet up here; they should show up soon."

Link walked to the edge of the cliff and dropped his eyes to the steep hill that lay below him. Not wanting to imagine what would happen should he lose his footing at such a high place, he turned his attention towards the widespread plain.

He caught sight of a village and beyond it was the ocean. Turning his eyes to the left and right, Link discovered that the ocean actually surrounded the entire piece of land that he was on—from this he concluded he was on an island.

He turned around at the sound of pattering footsteps. From a small crowd of trees two figures were approaching and Link recognized them as Dijonay and Katrina.

Upon seeing him they paused—alleviation passing over the Governess' earlier, troubled look—before they continued up the cliff, halting just a few feet away from Brent. Barely even a second later, Renée emerged from the trees and a few paces behind her was Mekial.

"So you found him," Katrina said, folding her arms and turning her eyes from Link to Brent.

"Not too far from here, either," the Hylian responded. "Just down the hill that way." He nodded to his left. "But anyway, we need to find out where we are. We've all pretty much figured that we're on an island."

"I think this place is called Romano Island," Katrina returned. "I think," said again, putting emphasis on the two words.

Though, she had recognized the isle as soon as she had seen the village over the cliff, for she had come here a couple of times to visit a friend with her family—when they were still alive.

t was actually not too far from the Corva Isles, though Katrina chose not to dwell on this fact at that time, nor to say it aloud, for she feared that she would be unable to contain her harbored rage if she did. Such an emotion she wished to keep quiet for the time being.

Romano Island was a small place, leaving most of its space for the beach and fields and having only a single village for anyone that wanted to live there. This small town, known as Telphis, could be seen from the cliff that the group was standing on.

It was a fishing village and so the air that lingered around it was heavily laden with the scent of tropical seafood. It was also a sort of checkpoint for trade ships who would stop here on their way to the Arkanian Empire or a different country on that same continent. As such, the town of Telphis had popular goods to sell along with the fish that its fishermen caught every afternoon.

"All right," Brent said. "But we should probably head to the village down there—it beats standing up here on a cliff."

Having no objections to this, the party found a path that ran down the side of the cliff and into the plains below. They tread upon this road carefully, as it was steep and the footing was poor, and when they had safely arrived at the bottom of the path, they continued on a silent road towards the village of Telphis.

From the cliff the community did not look to be too far, however, on ground, the band found that this was far from the truth. As soon as they had gotten off of the cliff, they could no longer see the village of Telphis and thus it took them around an hour or a little less to reach the town. When they did, their nostrils were overwhelmed with the smell of fish and the lining of their clothing was instantly soaked in it.

Surrounding the entire town of Telphis was a simple wooden fence, which had only one opening, fortunately on the same side that our small party was approaching. Stationed at either side of this entrance was an Arkanian soldier, their allegiance recognized by the falcon that was painted upon their breastplates.

Dijonay kept close to the center of the group, out of sight of the officers, though she thought that she saw one of the men glance at their band. Whether or not his eyes had lingered on her were unsure, for the helmet that was upon his head overshadowed his eyes.

Once the group had passed by the officers, Dijonay assumed that she had not been noticed, for they had not been stopped. As such, the party was free to follow the dirt path further into the village.

The houses of the village were mostly log cabins and huts and all of them appeared to be of a size that would fit at least one average-sized family or smaller. The houses that wished to be recognized as a small general store had signs hanging above their door frames or beside their doors, and some of the inhabitants of Telphis could be seen on the main road, either walking or talking with someone.

None of them cast even the smallest of glances to the sore-thumb of a group that had just entered their hometown and, what Link noticed, none of them seemed to be shocked that a few of the people in said group had large and pointy ears.

Just noticing this made him feel a bit more comfortable in this new location and so he stopped in his tracks, and his allies did the same, thinking he had something to say.

Rather than meet their expectation, Link approached one of the villagers. "Excuse me," he called, gaining the woman's attention. "We got kind of shipwrecked over on the beach. Where exactly are we?"

"This is Romano Island," the woman answered shortly, taking a couple steps to continue her walk. "It's not even ten miles east of those cursed Corva Isles." She strolled off.

"The Corva Isles?" Link repeated.

"Did you know that?" Renée asked and Katrina did not respond immediately.

Rather, she pressed her lips together and then, slowly, she shook her head.

Renée regarded her with a disbelieving look for a second but then looked down to Mekial. "Y'know, we never thanked you for saving us last night," she said to him. "So, thanks."

He gave her a half-hearted smile, unsure if her 'thanks' had good timing. After all, he had most likely blown he and his allies only a few miles away from the _Maysee_ the night before and so there was a possibility that they were not saved just yet.

"Romano Island is barely even a day and a half away from Arkania," Dijonay pointed out glumly. "I thought I remembered the name of this place. Although Mekial's aid was still helpful, I am not sure we can say that we are safe just yet."

"If it's only a day and a half away, then you're right," Renée agreed, dropping her eyes to the ground as she began to think. When she spoke again her voice sounded a bit distant. "We could be being chased even now..."

Hearing this, Link's heart skipped a beat. "If that's the case then you should go home," he said abruptly after this feeling, "since we're so close anyway."

"Go home?" Dijonay repeated, her thin eyebrows pursing and Katrina tensing beside her.

"Yes," Link affirmed, his tone firm as he looked to each of the non-Hyruleans, and his eyes stopped briefly on Renée, Brent and Katrina's faces. "You all remember how we were taken to the ship last night, right?"

They only nodded and, when they did not say anything, Link chose to continue. "I think that those things and Malbex are working together. And right now, they want what I have." He patted one of his belt pouches, his fingers feeling the lump of the velvet bag that was inside of it. "Chances are I'm going to be running from them for a while. And I don't want you guys to have to join in on something like that."

From the looks on their faces, Link knew that they wordlessly agreed with him. And yet, a part of him also knew that they did not want to fully accept that truth. He presumed that the reason was because they did not like the idea of leaving Link to fend for himself with malevolent people in pursuit of him.

But Link was not as worried as they were—in fact, he was not worried at all. The year before he had been on an adventure, facing deranged looking monsters, risking his life more than once, visiting strange worlds and had even defeated an evil warlock who had once been believed to be too powerful to kill. Staying out of the clutches of Malbex and his minions would be no trouble for him at all.

"What do you plan on doing then? If we leave," Renée added, showing that she was not keen on the idea of leaving Link for her own safety.

At this inquiry, Link did not instantly answer, but rather pondered it for a short moment. What _were_ his next few steps?

He knew little of Malbex's plan, only knowing that he wanted to collect all of the pieces of the Triforce of Power. What he would do when he had that entire piece, Link was not sure, but there was something inside of him that was urging him to gather them first. The task would not be as simple as it sounded, he knew, but he did know where the rest of the shards were located; this information he had gotten from Telma and her company while in Arkania.

Upon thinking of Telma and the others, Link suddenly wondered if, maybe, he should remain on this island and wait for their arrival. After all, that had been the reason for his leaving Hyrule in the first place—should he return home empty-handed, the Princess might think that he had failed. And he did not want to disappoint her in such a way.

Yet, as Renée had said only moments ago, there was the possibility that Shadows—or maybe even Malbex himself—were chasing after them at that very moment. Link did not want to take the chance of waiting for Telma and the others' arrival, for he feared that he may wind up battling a new adversary while in this innocent and small town. Such an event would endanger the lives of everyone here—something that he was not willing to do.

That being so, perhaps the best action for Link to take would be to leave Romano Island and seek out the rest of the Triforce shards. While doing so he would, at some point, find a way to speak with Princess Zelda and inform her of everything that had happened while he had been overseas. Her having a piece of the Triforce as well, he believed that it would be good for her to know.

Even as all of these thoughts were passing through Link's mind, there was something inside of him that did not wish to do any of this. That part of him just wanted to go home—to see the villagers of Ordon again and to return to his simple life of shepherding and delivering milk. That simple life where he would be destined to become an average mayor.

Such elementary ideals; such an easy life.

"I'm going to return to Hyrule," he finally answered, tuning his mind back into reality. "And I'm going to find the rest of the shards before Malbex does." It was a decent goal—after all, since there was a part of the Triforce in him, he did have a duty to protect the entire wish-granting relic.

When he had stated what his plans were, he caught a glimmer of sadness appear in Dijonay's eyes. Instantly he recalled the time she had spoken with him in her horse carriage, about how she had wanted to find the shards before Malbex did as well. However this goal was not something that she should give herself—she was one of the rulers of the Arkanian Empire and as such she had a higher duty to fulfill. Link did not say this out loud, for he knew that she was already aware of this fact.

"For now, we'll find some way for you to all get back to Arkania," Link started, "and I'll find a way to get to Hyrule. I saw a harbor that was here when we were on the cliff; maybe someone there can help us?"

This goal set, the group made their way towards the seaport, though Dijonay seemed to lag behind a couple of steps. Her face was downcast and her expression was filled with concentration, as though she were trying to figure something out.

Mekial noticed the young girl's expression, though he could not say anything to encourage her. After all, he knew that they had to return to the Estate so that she could resume her post as Prime Minister. He himself did not want to return to that boring lifestyle—all he did was attend meetings with her and tamper with the water fountain in the courtyard when bored. If he could join with Link on his quest, just to make his job a bit more exciting—

No, he could not think like that.

Mekial turned his head away from Dijonay, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared solemnly at his boots as they thumped through the dirt path. He could not wish for Dijonay to want to travel into danger just to make his life less boring. He could not wish for her to somehow wind up in a situation where he would be unable to protect her. Not only did this make him feel guilty, but he knew that if he did fail in protecting her, if she were to get hurt in any way, the punishment would be on his head.

And that was something that he did not want to think about.

Telphis being a small community, the band made it to the haven in a matter of moments. Here the group divided in to three, thinking it was easier to cover more ground this way. Renée searched for a boat with Mekial, Brent with Dijonay and Katrina, and Link searched by himself.

As the sorcerer was in company with his elder sister, he began to speak with her, taking up most of the conversation by telling her stories of some humorous moments that had happened in the Estate, as well as telling her about how he had been trained to become the Prime Minister's bodyguard.

Renée appeared genuinely interested in his stories, as she had not seen him in three years, and she even found herself realizing that she had missed his optimistic spirit more than she had thought. Whenever her brother paused she would tell him of how her life had been after they had been separated, though she kept quiet about her life as a Helper.

Brent and Dijonay however did not converse much and Katrina lingered behind them, her arms folded as though they were glued in that position, and her mouth was down-turned into a frown. The only time she would speak was when she was conversing with a fisherman and the only time she showed an emotion was when she was giving someone a false smile after she had spoken with them.

Fortunately enough, the group had found some fishermen that were willing to take them to their destinations: the Arkanian side of the group had met an elderly man, named Will, who was willing to take them to Peluma, while Link had met with another man, of or around the same age, named Monroe, who was willing to take him to Albaan, a country that bordered Hyrule's western side.

From there, the man stated that Link would need to go southeast until he found Heletica's Pass, which was a river that winded its way across the border of Albaan and Hyrule. Getting out of the Pass, Link would find himself near the border of Faron and Eldin Province. Both fishermen claimed that, because it was short notice, they would be prepared to leave in a couple of days. They would depart early and as such they were requested to be at the harbor at the crack of dawn.

As soon as they had found this transportation, Dijonay's sadness overcame her once again. After she and the others had left Will's presence, she looked over to Link, seeing him heading their way, and then she averted her eyes, wishing that there was something that she could do to help him in his quest.

Perhaps while she was back in Arkania she could warn the Emperor of the threat that Malbex posed to the country—to the entire empire—to the entire world. But she felt that if she were to do such a thing, the Emperor would be disbelieving, only because most of Arkania believed that Hyrule and all of its legends were myths or tall tales. Though, Dijonay had never believed such a thing—in fact, she had lost all trust in that belief when she had heard of Link coming from the land of Hyrule.

For hundreds of years, ever since the Hylians had been enslaved, Arkanians had known that Hyrule had existed. They had known that some Hylians had fled Arkania to form a new colony over the Great Sea; they had known that those Hylians had named it Hyrule. But they did not allow their slaves to know this fact. Rather, they had taught that Hyrule was merely a feeble attempt at holding on to a small hope. Eventually, the entire country had fallen into this lie.

Truly, it was pitiful.

Dijonay forced her head up and returned her eyes to the path that she was treading upon, as well as to the backs of her previous traveling companions. Her eyes slid over to Link, lingering on him for a short second, and then she returned her eyes to the others. And within her, she truly felt as though she had to accompany the Hyrulean.

* * *

Brent swung his new Bo staff horizontally before him, causing the air to whisper softly as the artillery cut through it. It was a perfect fit, having almost the same balance of his previous weapon but, perhaps, even more comfortable.

Around noon earlier that day, he and the others had found a small inn to stay at for the next couple of days, and it was at that point in time that Brent noticed that the jacket pocket that held his Bo staff was completely soaked. He had pulled out the weapon and shook it, hearing water swishing around in its innards. He figured that while he had been floating in the ocean earlier that morning, water had seeped in through the opening in his weapon, making it completely useless.

The village of Telphis had a small marketplace in which a variety of groceries and items were sold and, amongst the sales, Brent found a stall that was selling weapons. There he had purchased this new Bo staff that he held, which was probably as long and thick as his old one, though having no button upon it to shrink it to a portable size. Even though he was disappointed with this, Brent did not fully mind the idea of constantly carrying this stick around him wherever he went.

Although he had a few days to get himself used to this new artillery, Brent had chosen to practice with it in that same day until he grew too exhausted to continue. Thus, he had gone straight to his room at the inn right after he had bought it and had begun to swing it around, allowing his arms to grow used to its resistance and speed.

When he glanced out the window hours later, during another break he decided he desperately needed, he saw that the moon was riding high in the sky, showing only half of its full and shining face. Upon seeing it, a sudden wave of fatigue washed over him, as though merely sitting and knowing that it was time to rest made him want to rest. Or perhaps he was more tired than he had thought.

He drew himself up from the chair that he had seated himself in and crossed the room to the bed, then leaned his new staff against the corner beside it. Just as he began to take his jacket off, his sensitive ears heard the sound of light footsteps approaching his room.

At first, he made to dismiss the sound, for there were other doors in the hallway that his room was in, however he second-guessed himself when the sound of the footsteps stopped before his door. On the movable barrier's opposite side, a fist was raised and by the will of its owner it rapped its knuckles against the wooden door, waiting for Brent to open it.

At first he wondered if he should just ignore the call, for he was fairly tired, however he decided against it and made his way towards the door. He twisted the knob and pulled the door back enough to peek outside and see who had disturbed him.

Standing there, her hands laced in front of her and a look of slight nervousness on her face, was Dijonay. When he had seen her after his eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the corridor, Brent opened the door all the way.

"Hey," he greeted.

Dijonay subtly shifted on her feet. "Er...may I come in?"

After a short pause, Brent stepped aside to allow his sibling entry, and he shut the door after she had entered.

The young prime minister stood in the center of the small living quarters for a long moment, her brown eyes staring out to the night sky and her fingers twisting and fumbling over one another. She then broke the connection between her hands and grabbed handfuls of her dress, scrunching the fabric so that it filled her palms, and she squeezed it and released it, her eyes now cast to the ground.

Then with a soft sigh, she released her dress and spun on her heel to face Brent, who had been watching her patiently.

"I am not going back," she said abruptly, nearly choking on the words as they spilled out. She had not realized how official it would sound when she said it aloud. She pressed her lips together and waited for Brent to respond.

He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, his brow puckered in confusion. "What?"

"To Arkania," Dijonay continued, her voice tight. "I'm going with Link."

Brent regarded her with a look of shock, then his expression reverted to an average stare. "Why?"

"I-I have to help him," she stammered. "I have to help him find the shards before Malbex does." Subconsciously she gripped the hem of her dress again. "Because...he can't go by himself." In her mind's eye, Dijonay could see the ice-cold stare of Malbex's red eyes the night that she had first met him. There had been so much power in that gaze, so much intimidation. She could not imagine allowing Link to face someone like that without any form of help.

"You think you can help him?" Although Brent had not meant to, his voice sounded sarcastic, and Dijonay's visage collapsed into utter sadness. Immediately he regretted his tone and, to atone for it, he added, "I mean, after all you don't have anything to fight with. So him having to protect you might be...hard for him."

Dijonay shook her head. "I told Mekial, and as my bodyguard he is requested as well as willing to accompany me. Link will have nothing to worry about."

"What about being Prime Minister?" Brent went on. "You can't just abandon your role—what would the Emperor think?"

"Why do you worry over that?" Dijonay asked, finally releasing the hem of her dress. "I understand that...my choice is inconsiderate. Perhaps even more so when I add that my being absent will allow your Resistance groups to free even more captured Hylians without powerful consequences."

Brent stared at her again, his mouth partly agape.

"Though such a statement could be unwise to say," Dijonay went on smoothly. "In my absence, my Advising Monitor, Mattatheus, shall take my place, and he is far stricter than I am. When I told him that I knew who had carried out the raid of the Thrall Cell, he had been the first to jump to the conclusion that we should seek all of you out and put you behind bars."

At this, Brent's mind backtracked to the time that Renée had first suggested that they go to speak with the Governess before simply attacking the Thrall Cell. She had definitely been correct in stating that such an act was a gamble, as speaking with the Governess and, if receiving a no, going to the Thrall Cell and raiding could arouse suspicion.

"Why would you do something so irresponsible?" he then inquired, jumping back to the main topic of their conversation. "We're close to Arkania—you have to go back. You don't have a choice."

"Mattatheus will take my place," Dijonay repeated. "As my Advising Monitor, he is next in command."

"So you're just gonna leave on short notice and hope that your countrymen and the Emperor understand?" Brent could not deny that he was starting to get frustrated; how was it that he, the disowned child of the Prime Minister's family, was more responsible than the one who had been raised in that family?

"I will send a letter," Dijonay answered, sounding much calmer than when she had first begun to speak with him. Brent regarded her with a look that suggested that he was thinking she was stunningly naive. "I believe that Mattatheus will understand the circumstances."

Brent shook his head in aggravation and scratched his head. "Why are you telling me all of this, anyway? Did you tell anyone else?"

"No." For the first time during this discussion, a small smile crept across the young Governess' face. "Brent, I came to tell you first, to invite you to accompany us." Again, Brent could do nothing but stare at her until his mind finally decided that he should respond.

"...What?"

"I am not so irresponsible to just allow you to return home with the knowledge that there is no Prime Minister," Dijonay continued. "Telling your Resistance friends may spark a...gruesome revolution."

Brent's eyes narrowed. "All the more reason for me to go back."

"Unless I were to tell you that such a revolution would be unnecessary should you join me," Dijonay added, overlooking his comment. Just before her next sentence, her face grew pained, as though she were wishing that she did not have to make him an offer such as the one she had in mind. "...In exchange for you accompanying me, when we return to Arkania..." She paused, suddenly thinking of how her next few words and how she followed through with them may affect the course of history. "...I will do all that is in my power to help free all enslaved Hylians."

Brent felt his eye twitch. "You..." At such a young age, how had she learned to bribe people?

At first Brent thought to believe her, but then he remembered how, until he had been discharged and removed from his role of Prime Minister, their father had mostly raised the girl standing before him.

Not only did the previous prime minister strongly dislike Hylians, but he also lied and cheated his way into the favor of high-ranking nobles, just to maintain his political position.

How was Brent to know if Dijonay had not been influenced by this act? How was he to know that she was not lying to him?

Unable to get his thoughts in order, he briefly dropped his eyes to the floor then drew them back to Dijonay's face that appeared to be nervous once again. He took a deep breath, his light brown eyes firmly locked upon her.

"I'll sleep on it," was his final answer.

Thankfully, Dijonay did not push him any further. Rather, she dismissed herself, hoping that he would have an answer by the next night. As soon as she had left, Brent approached the lamp sitting upon the room's nightstand and switched it off, then proceeded to climb into the bed. Yet, even when the back of his head felt the soft, comforting feeling of the pillow, his heavy eyelids could not fall.


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter Thirty-Nine**

Link truly hated how time would choose to speed up or slow down at the most inopportune moments. When he would sit somewhere and merely stare at the wall to try and pass the time, it would choose to clock by slowly, whereas if he were to actually do something, it would choose to tick by quicker than he could keep track.

This event had happened the day before, the day where he would have at least the entire thing to gather all of the provisions he would need for his future journey as well as find some time to make his way towards the island's beach and relax.

Buying provisions had not taken as long as he had thought, fortunately enough, but as soon as he was preparing to leave for the beach, heading down the corridor that led to the inn's front door, he had stopped all of his plans when his ears picked up the sound of Brent and Renée speaking with one another in the inn's lobby. He had only heard small snippets of their talk; not enough to make a full sentence but enough for him to try and figure out what they were speaking about: returning home.

But from what Link had heard they were not planning on heading home. He had detected the prime minister's name, so he assumed that she had something to do with their abrupt choice.

Unfortunately, Link had decided to eavesdrop near the end of the exchange of words, and as such he could not draw any more conclusions, nor could he discover what other place the two could be planning on going to. Or rather, the two and the Prime Minister and her bodyguard.

But he could guess.

And if they were planning on coming with him...

Link had left the hall when he heard the closing words of the discussion, and later discovered that in the midst of his thoughts, his feet had been leading him towards the room of Dijonay. Upon reaching her door, he knocked on it multiple times, yet he received no answer.

He turned to leave the lodge, however the sound of a familiar voice stopped him.

"She said something about sending a letter."

Link had turned, his eyes spotting the figure of Katrina walking down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Without waiting for a response from Link, she had entered her own room and Link heard a soft click, signaling that she had decided to lock herself within it.

Rather than searching for Dijonay, Link had made his way towards the harbor, searching amongst the groups of fishermen for the man who had agreed to take the Arkanians and Katrina back to Arkania.

He had not spotted the man anywhere in the haven but had remained in the area anyway, unable to ask anyone where the man was for he had forgotten his name. It was not until later did Link finally recall the man's title and had begun to ask the men around him about him, only to find that Will had not been seen at the harbor at all that day.

The Hyrulean guessed that he had stayed home to prepare himself for the short trip he would be taking the following day, and so he asked one of the fishermen for the man's address.

Once receiving it, Link had jogged down the dirt paths of Telphis, finding the man's house right where he had been informed that it would be. When he had arrived there, the sky was beginning to turn various hues of pinks and purple and, slightly irritated, Link had cast his eyes to the horizon to see the sun sinking beneath the cliffs far off in the distance.

He approached the wooden door of the man's house, his knuckles barely grazing against its surface before the door was abruptly swung open by none other than Will himself. The elderly man regarded Link with a confused stare for a long moment with his only good eye, for the other one was covered by an eye patch, until he finally recognized Link's face.

"Ah, right," he said, straightening up and smiling crookedly. "The boy headin' to Hyrule—need somethin'?"

"Whatever you do," Link started, "_don't _let the people that you agreed to take to Arkania try to leave you." Will stared at him, stunned at such a blunt and cryptic request. "No matter what they say, take them straight to Arkania. All right?"

"I...yeah, sure."

To Link's relief, the man had not asked a great many questions. Link had nodded and thanked the man and, knowing that it would be nightfall by the time he reached it, he chose not to head to the beach.

Instead, he returned to the seaport and there found an isolated spot to sit. There, in between two of the storehouses that wrought the air with the foul stench of fish that Link had quickly accustomed to, he sat, allowing the cool and oceanic breeze to sift through his air and brush against his face. With a resolute stare, he had looked at the ocean until the sun had long since fallen beneath the horizon. By the time he had returned to the inn just before its closing time, the seaport was empty.

The next morning, while it was still dark Link awoke, gathering the items that he had bought the previous day and re-equipping his shield and sword. Once he was fully prepared, Link exited the room of his inn, its key clasped in his right hand.

When he reached the lobby, he signed his name into the book and placed the key on the counter and, when he looked up, his eyes caught sight of the others filing down the corridor after him. He had only allowed himself to glance, using this motion to pretend that he had not seen them, and he proceeded to exit the lodge, quietly shutting the door behind him so as to not disturb any of the other residents.

Halfway down the road that led to the harbor, Link subtly peeked over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of Mekial's cloak. Without pausing, Link returned his eyes in front of him and continued to the harbor, deftly picking up his pace without arousing any suspicion.

When he arrived at the harbor, Link looked around the seemingly abandoned area, spotting a single man standing at one of the piers. Recognizing the large form as Monroe's, Link approached him, giving him a friendly morning greeting.

"Morning!" Monroe returned, giving Link a broad smile. "Ready to head out?"

Nodding, Link ambled across the pier and crossed the boarding plank on to the boat's deck. As he looked for a place to settle himself in, he noticed the size of the boat: it was mid-sized, probably three times smaller than the size of the_ Maysee_.

Regardless of its moderate size, Link did not think the idea of sailing for two weeks across the Great Sea in a boat of this magnitude was a smart idea. Yet, it was his only mode of transportation, so he would have to deal with it.

Link approached the railing of the man's fishing boat and, turning, he caught sight of Dijonay leading the rest of the company towards the other end of the harbor, presumably towards Will's boat. He turned his head away, already imagining what the group could be saying. He only hoped that Will would take what Link had ordered him to do seriously.

For taking them home to Arkania was the only way for them to remain safe.

"Mister Will," Dijonay greeted, raising a waving hand in greeting.

The elderly man turned his head away from the first lights of the rising sun to see his approaching passengers.

As Dijonay came closer she held her hand out to Mekial, who reached into his pocket and removed from it a folded sheet of parchment. Scrawled on the front side of the parchment in Dijonay's light and flowing handwriting was the name of her Advising Monitor.

Mekial placed this piece of paper in Dijonay's outstretched hand and, with it, she came closer to Will, holding it out to him. Hesitantly, he took it. "You remember what I spoke to you about yesterday, correct?" Will pursed his lips and shrugged, then nodded, receiving a smile of satisfaction from the Governess. "I have told those behind me what our future plans are—and they have all agreed to accompany Link as well, for their own reasons."

Will's working eye flicked over Dijonay's shoulder to the four people behind her before it jumped back to her face.

Then he reached behind him, his rough and thick fingers fingering the piece of parchment he had recently tucked into the back of his belt, all the while his eye moving from Dijonay's face to the others behind her and back again. Finally, he removed the paper from his belt and handed it back to his owner.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, as she looked confused as she stared at the paper that he was supposedly giving back to her. "Your, ah, friend told me to take you to Arkania no matter what."

Dijonay's eyes briefly widened and she turned her eyes to the opposite end of the harbor, shortly catching Link's eye before he broke eye contact by facing the ocean. The fisherman that was with him was now stationed at the boat's bridge, the sail hoisted and the rope that had once tied it to the pier undone.

Will's nervous laughter attracted her attention and so she returned her eyes to him, appearing both troubled and upset. "Honestly, it looked like the boy would've killed me if I didn't choose to do what he said."

He suddenly clamped his mouth shut, as Dijonay's expression had cracked into a look of pure anger. When she spoke, her voice was loud and aggressive, nearly making those that were behind her cower in reverence.

"Mister Will, I did not wish to reveal this to you," the young woman started, taking the letter and handing it back to Mekial, "because I believed that our earlier agreement would not call for it. But now, I find that I have no choice." She drew a hand to her chest. "I will tell you now, Mister Will, that my authority far exceeds that of the man that came to you last night, ordering you to disobey me."

_How dare he..._

Did Link not realize how important this was to her? Did he not want her help?

Will's brow pursed at this.

"Do you know who I am?" Dijonay continued, her voice now having been lowered to a threatening tone. "I am the Prime Minister of the Arkanian District of the Arkanian Empire: Dijonay Milyan Trubel." A feeling of satisfaction arose within her when she saw Will's eye widen; he was stupefied, without a doubt. "With my authority, I order you to take me and my accomplices in the same direction as those two men just over there."

Dijonay removed the hand from her chest and pointed towards Monroe and Link and when Will turned to look he saw that the two were pulling out of the harbor. The lowly fisherman turned back to Dijonay, his single working eye the size of a saucer and his mouth agape.

Behind the ruler, the others were staring at her in amazement, having never once even imagined that she could hold such power and aggression.

Their escort finally stepped aside, allowing them passage on to his boat. Once they were all aboard, he untied the sea vessel from the pier, hoisted the sail, then approached the fishing boat's steering wheel, turning it and controlling the rudder so that the boat turned in the same direction that Link and Monroe were sailing in.

"Two weeks and a couple of days is how long we'll be at sea, Miss," Will informed Dijonay. The Arkanian glanced to him over her shoulder.

"That's fine."

She approached the front side of the boat, placing her hands upon the railing and curling her fingers around it as she peered through the light morning fog to the fishing boat that drifted far ahead of her. With a stern gaze she fixed her eyes upon it, as though her look could reach Link and let him know that she and the others were following.

Then steadily her vision grew hazy and the bright saturation of the morning's colors began to blur. Dijonay crinkled her forehead with a frown as she scrunched her eyes shut and she began to rub them, expecting to feel unnecessary tears collecting in their corners. Yet, there were no tears there—in fact, there was nothing in her eyes at all.

Suddenly recognizing the sensation Dijonay opened her eyes, allowing the sights around her to fade into a hazy cloud of fog. Her eyes grew distant, as if she were lost in thought, and then before her wide green plains appeared, stretching, expanding, rising and falling in every direction; mountains grew here, trees there and dirt paths swam across the earth beneath her, as though they were being drawn by the graceful hand of a painter.

Above her the sky was splattered a beautiful blue, dotted with small puffs of scattered white clouds and the small frames of birds soaring through the air. Dijonay lowered her eyes from the sight and in the distance and poking out behind a cluster of hills, she saw the towers of a magnificent castle, its cone-shaped rooftops painted a dark blue and flags that bore the symbol of the Triforce stationed upon the towers' crowns.

And then the fields around her melted away, leaving only her and the castle that had once been far, but was now very close to her. Looking down, Dijonay found that her feet were planted upon the firm security of perfectly shaped stones of which made a wide path that led to the front gates of the castle.

When the Governess drew her eyes up to the tall, arched doors of the gate, she saw that it was open and, standing before those doors was a single person: brown hair and brown attire, pointy ears...

It was Link—but he was alone.

Then the image fell away from her eyes like scales, allowing her to see the ocean once again. Dijonay shook herself out of her trance and looked around, finding that Will's boat had not traveled far while she had been gazing in to the future.

And what a strange future she had seen—what land was it that she had looked at: Hyrule? It could have been, as there were flags that had the Triforce embroidered into their surface. Though, what Dijonay found odd was that Link had been by himself at the castle gates. Why could that be so?

She shook her head—it was the future and right now was the present. She fixed her eyes ahead of her, towards the clear horizon.

In the fishing boat before her Link turned, having to do a double-take when he saw who was behind him. He searched the boat for Will's face and, when seeing him and the look of pure anxiety upon his face, he could only try to guess what had happened to make him take no heed of Link's petition.

He dropped his eyes to the others who had scattered themselves around the boat, each of them looking to the Great Sea in a different direction.

The abrupt jolt of surprise coming from Renée drew Link's eyes, and when he saw her he could see that she was reaching for the handle of her sword with her eyes staring in shock and horror at the harbor of Telphis.

Link followed her gaze, then cursed.

Floating across the dirt terrain of the harbor and leaving a trail of coiling black smoke were three Shadows, one of them making their way towards Link, while the final two soared towards the other boat.


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter Forty**

Link knew he was not good with fighting in small spaces, especially spaces as small as the fishing boat that he was standing in.

Nevertheless, he drew his weapons and braced himself for the onslaught of attacks that would come from the Shadow in only seconds to come. He took his last few moments of freedom to look towards the boat that was behind him, seeing that the others had already started to battle the two Shadows that had ambushed them.

Renée could be seen dodging about, jumping out of reach of the Shadows' lanky fingers and ducking beneath deathly swipes of their arms.

Mekial was firing spells of every element he could think of at both of the dark creatures, all the while Dijonay crouched and out of sight behind him.

Katrina, standing too close for a weapon such as her bow and arrows to be useful, had resorted to her hidden knives, their blades slashing and whipping around in the cool morning as she fought.

Brent's staff could be seen waving around as well, crashing into the heads or sides of the Shadows, though seemingly not doing much damage. Throughout all of this, Will was cowering behind the steering wheel, praying that the Shadows would not find him.

Link's attention was suddenly torn from his allies and directed towards the Shadow that had quickly closed in on him, and he ducked just as the monster swung one of its hands horizontally at him, intending to clutch his neck with its vice-like grip.

Monroe had long since turned when he had heard the faint clashing sounds of the weapons coming from Will's boat and after showing a brief surprise from both seeing Will's boat and the Shadows, he had reached down to the ground and scooped up a small ax, one that he kept in case of emergencies such as this. He then looked up and, seeing Link struggling to survive, he held the weapon over his shoulder and then threw it.

The artillery flipped through the air, following the perfect course to lodge itself in the Shadow's head. The beast's flurry of fists that crashed into Link's shield wound up protecting it from the weapon however, a punch accidentally causing the ax handle to split in half, and the weapon's head ended up wedging itself in between the boards of the deck's trapdoor instead.

Upon seeing the weapon fall to the floor, the Shadow grew temporarily distracted. It ceased its attacks on Link and turned to face Monroe, and the fisherman could not seem to move. With a stunned expression he stared into the shadowed face of the monster before him, wondering at that moment if his time had finally come.

But it had not: Link pushed himself off of the planked floor with all of the strength that he had within him and rammed his shield into the Shadow's ribcage, causing it to slightly stumble to the side.

The Shadow turned to the person who had snatched its attention and swiped at him; Link brought up his shield to block the strike, but it had been far stronger than he had perceived and his shield arm was knocked aside.

His mind spiraling in panic, Link could not find enough time to react from this sudden blow; all he could do was stumble backward from the force of it, leaving him wide open and vulnerable.

The Shadow did not waste any time in stretching out a hand and groping for Link's neck while his defenses were broken. As soon as it touched him, as soon as it began to lift his feet off of the ground, Link could feel his energy being sapped away. At the same time, the body of smoke that clouded the monster's feet began to grow and expand, tendrils of it sliding up his legs and coiling and wrapping around his body.

It did not take long for Link to realize that, while he was being sucked dry of all life, the Shadow was intending to take him somewhere, just as its allies had done nights earlier at the harbors of Peluma.

Despite his diminishing strength Link forced himself to struggle, kicking his legs and clutching the Shadow's bony fingers, intending to pry them away from his neck and allow him to fall to the ground in safety.

But his attempts were futile and weakening and the beast's fingers only tightened around Link's neck, this time almost suffocating him. His eyes scrunched tightly and he choked; when his eyes had opened again, the thick cloud of darkness that had once been swiveling around the Shadow's feet had by now increased in size, blocking almost all light of day from Link's eyes. His lungs heaved for air, for the atmosphere within this darkness was slowly growing thick and suffocating.

But Link kept struggling, unwilling to be defeated so easily. In the back of his mind he wondered if his accomplices were having any better luck—but if they weren't, he could do nothing to help them.

His kicks became slower and his groping hands began to slip and fall away from the Shadow's. It was getting harder to breathe, harder to stay conscious—and it was getting so dark...

Then, just as his hope had begun to die, he felt warmth.

This warm feeling came from Link's left hand, sending tingles up and down his arm until finally deciding to flow throughout his entire body. But the warmth did not just come from his left hand: it also came from his belt pouch, specifically from the velvet bag that was tucked away within it.

The Triforce that Link owned and the shard that he had obtained fused their strength together, shortly consuming Link's mind with raging emotions that were not his own. Brilliant light illuminated the darkness of the blanketing ebony cloud, completely washing it away in its light and sending the Shadow rearing back in agony.

Screaming and wailing, the beast threw Link to the ground, reeling back and cringing in the magnificent light that still flowed from his hand. Unable to take any more, the monster disappeared on the spot, nothing but a thin thread of black smoke floating in its wake.

The light that had grown from Link's hand began to die after the beast had vanished and with it the alien feelings that had risen within him. As he lay on the floor of the boat, dazed and the faint clashing sounds of the brawl going on upon Will's boat sounding in his ears, he found himself finally realizing the weakness of the Shadows.

He jumped to his feet and jogged to the back end of the fishing boat, searching the vessel that was not far behind him for any sign of the band's young sorcerer. The boy was spotted on the starboard side of the craft, giving long-range magical aid to the others as they struggled to defeat their adversaries.

Link sucked in a deep breath and then called to Mekial, his voice loud and resounding throughout the bay as he revealed to him how they could win: "Mekial! _Light_!"

On Will's boat, Link's voice had barely been audible amongst the scuffle. When he saw that Mekial had not done anything to acknowledge his call, Link thundered the two words out again and this time he was heard: he knew this when Mekial had looked at him and then held a hand at half-mast, forcing his once elementally-focused mind to concentrate on nothing but light.

From the boy's tongue fell the syllables of the winning spell, the words falling in to the air with fluidity, and as he spoke light flickered on and off around his raised hand, looking more like a dying light than the big one that Link had been expecting.

But when Mekial finished his chant he threw his hand in to the air and the flickering light solidified, growing in brightness and causing he and those on board Will's fishing boat to turn their heads away to keep from being blinded.

With their eyes shut, they could not see the fall of the Shadows, but they could hear their pained shrieks, these terrible cries echoing out to sea and disturbing some of the people that were still sleeping in the nearby village. Finally, their hollers were cut short as they disappeared in the same way as their previously defeated comrade.

Panting, those that were on the same boat as Mekial put away their weapons, casting their eyes about the small vessel to see the damage that they had caused. Pieces of its railing had been completely blown or chipped apart and legs of the steering wheel were missing. Parts of the bridge were dented and the floorboards were scorched in places from Mekial's previous, but luckily maintainable, fire spells.

When Will finally peered over the remains of the helm, his face cut and dirtied by flying debris, he jumped to his feet, his eye absorbing the sight of the destroyed remains of his boat. He was about to yell in anger, yet with the sanity that he had managed to hold on to he recalled the reason that such devastation had fallen upon his poor craft.

Rather than fume and demean the ones that had evidently saved his life, he let out his breath in a heavy huff, letting his flexed arms fall limply by his sides.

"Y'know," Brent started, planting the base of his staff on the floor, "you think we would've figured out that whole light thing a lot sooner."

Even though it was in poor condition, Will's boat was led to sail the rest of the way towards Monroe's vessel. There, they found that the damage that had occurred included nothing more than an ax stuck in between the planks of the trapdoor, and smudges where Link's feet had slid back while he was guarding the Shadow's flurry of punches.

Both boats were stopped when they were side by side and Link made his way towards the railing, looking over the party with an expression that he hoped did not show how angry he was to see that they had tried to follow him.

He waited until Dijonay approached as well, for she had been engaged in a short discussion with Will, handing him a slip of white paper as she spoke. When she had joined with Link's audience, he began to speak.

"What happened to going home?" he asked shortly, his voice bland.

"You cannot go by yourself," Dijonay returned. "We have decided to accompany you, each for our own reason." Link looked fleetingly to the others before he relocked his gaze upon the young Governess.

"What was your reason?"

"You face an enemy that I do not believe should be faced without help," the young woman replied. "I...wish to offer you that help."

Again, Link looked at the rest of the group, this time noticing that they all had the same sort of resoluteness that could be seen in Dijonay's eyes. Like her, he presumed, they were unwilling to abandon him to protect themselves. Why they were choosing to be so loyal, Link did not know.

But, then again, perhaps they were not even being loyal; maybe, just as Dijonay had said, they had all decided to join with Link, each for their own reason. The motivation that drove them to stay by Link's side was a mystery to him, but for all he knew that motive could be a selfish one.

But he did not find this a good enough reason to send them back.

"You don't have to worry about me," he told them. "I've been through things like this before."

But they didn't change their minds.

"You cannot decline," Dijonay declared firmly, and she climbed upon the railing of Will's boat and hopped upon the deck of Monroe's.

After she had jumped aboard, Brent leaped across the small gap after her, clapping Link on the shoulder.

"I mind this as much as you do," he began, "but when you're under orders from the Prime Minister herself, what can ya do?"

Link blinked in surprise and turned back to Will's boat just in time to see Katrina, Renée and Mekial leap to the deck that he was standing on. The three of them did not say a word but rather followed Dijonay and Brent towards Monroe, who appeared both stunned and confused about the sudden occurring events.

Link did not bother to listen to what they were saying to the fisherman, but rather directed his eyes to look at Will.

Upon catching Link's gaze, the man shrugged, unable to come up with an explanation for why he had not listened to Link's request from the night before. Though, the Hylian had figured what happened just from what Brent had said to him seconds earlier.

"There has been a slight alteration in plans," Dijonay informed Monroe professionally, her posture straight and head held high. "I and these people here with me" – she gestured to Brent, Renée, Mekial and Katrina – "will be accompanying Link to Albaan."

Monroe studied each of them briefly, aware of the girl's statement but still overwhelmed by what had just happened. "If you're with him…" He pointed cautiously at Link, who was watching them quietly, "then, do you know what those black things were?"

Just before Dijonay could voice a reply, the trapdoor upon the deck was thrown open and a woman's face emerged, her blue-green eyes wide. Her long and curly orange hair was held away from her face by a plain blue scarf and, as her head elevated above the hole of the trapdoor, it could be seen that the many freckles that covered her cheeks almost made her small nose invisible.

After searching the deck and spotting Monroe standing before the group of strangers, she climbed out from the lower level of the boat, closing the trapdoor behind her. As she closed it, her still dilated eyes spotted the small ax head lodged in its surface.

She wrenched it from that spot and, holding it in hand, she stood and examined the unrecognizable faces of the people aboard the fishing boat. Finally, she voiced her thoughts with a shout:

"What the heck happened up here? Grandpa, I was getting those cots ready like you asked, and then all of a sudden I start hearing these bangs and crashes and—and screaming, and... Who the heck can even scream that high?" The girl looked at Katrina. "Was it you?"

But the Corvenian only glared at her. The woman looked at the others of the group, though did not accuse anyone else of the high-pitched shrieks. Her eyes finally reverted to an average size and her thin eyebrows furrowed.

"There was just a bit of trouble, Sarah," Monroe answered his granddaughter, though his descendant did not seem to take this answer to heart, for in her mind it did not sound as though it truly explained what had happened. She folded her arms and regarded the old man with a stubborn glare; like that a rebellious child would give a parent if they were told to clean their room.

"I assure you, it is nothing for you to worry about," Dijonay piped up serenely, attracting the woman's attention. "Should what happened just now ever happen again" — she placed a hand on Mekial's shoulder — "this boy here will take care of it quickly."

Mekial shot the Governess a surprised look. He then looked back to Sarah, whose austere expression had not disappeared.

"Grandpa, what happened to just taking that one kid to Albaan?" she asked after a short pause. "Link?"

"It seems that there's been a change in plans," Monroe replied, approaching her and taking the ax head from her hand. "I think it's got somethin' to do with the monsters that you heard screaming up here earlier and—"

Sarah's mouth fell open in shock. "Monsters?" she blurted out loudly and her eyes darted about, searching the surface of the calm ocean for any sign of an intimidating creature. "What kind of monster was it? Was it the one that yelled? I've never heard anything scream like that!"

Monroe quieted his child with a shake of his head. "Personally, I wouldn't even want to describe them to you; strangest and creepiest things I've ever seen in my life..." He turned, replacing the broken weapon on the ground where he had first retrieved it. Once it was put away, he approached the railing of his boat, where he called to Will. The second fisherman came to Monroe, waiting for the man to speak. "I'll take 'em, Will," he started, "so you can go ahead and head on back."

Nodding and looking particularly gleeful that he would not have to deal with the odd group, Will proceeded to adjust his sail and then went towards the boat's steering wheel and gripped some of its still intact legs.

"I'll tell everyone else that you'll be gone for a while," he called and with that he spun the wheel to the left, causing his sea craft to make a full about-face. "Have a safe trip!" He then steered his boat back towards the harbor of Telphis and as he left Monroe turned to reface his new passengers.

Laying eyes on them, he saw that his granddaughter was already pestering them for the details of what had occurred.

"How big were they?" the woman was asking, her eyes darting from one of the travelers' faces to the next. "What did they look like? How strong were they? Were they—"

"Sarah!"

The woman instantly fell silent and her grandfather moved to stand beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"This here is my granddaughter," he said. "As you can see she's a very curious girl, lots of questions runnin' 'round in her mind, but she's got the best intentions." He smiled through his thick, gray beard. "She's also my fishing partner, probably one of the best ones I've ever had." Beside him Sarah grinned proudly, placing her hands on her hips as her grandparent chuckled. "And I ain't sayin' that just 'cause she's related to me."

"You better not," Sarah joked, though the way she cast him a sideways glance proved to be contradicting to her tone. She then turned her bright eyes back towards who she was going to escort across the Great Sea, searching the small group for the face of Dijonay.

Upon seeing her, the woman stepped forward, the light of the sun catching her orange hair in its morning glow as she moved. "So, I guess we're taking you guys all across the ocean, then." Her once cheery expression faded to be replaced with somberness. "Those monsters aren't after you, are they? They won't show up again?"

Although she had been curious about what the beasts looked like, she could not say that she was keen on the idea of actually crossing paths with one. To her discontent, Dijonay did not shake her head or nod, nor even give an encouraging reply.

"I cannot say for certain if they will show up again," the Governess stated grimly. "But I can say that if they do appear again, they will be eradicated upon their arrival."

But the Shadows did not appear again.

To everyone's satisfaction, their travel was undisturbed and blessed with calm seas and a wind that always blew on their side. Monroe and Sarah would trade places at the steering wheel as well as take turns taking control of the boat during the moonlit nights, steering it through slightly more excited waves during those hours.

During these nights, the guests aboard the fishing boat would retire to the cots that Sarah had been instructed to set up during their first day out to sea, the strong material that they slept in swaying as the boat rocked atop the constantly moving waves.

After the feeling of dreading the company of the non-Hyruleans for the next number of months had finally ebbed away, Link finally decided to accept it. He, Dijonay and Mekial even decided to tell the others of the events that had occurred in Talis.

It was during this explanation that Link also informed everyone of where the remaining three shards were, adding that he had gained this information from the ones he had been searching for when he had first arrived in Arkania.

Seeing as they would be taking Heletica's Pass, which would take them to the border of Eldin and Faron Province, Link announced that they would search for the shard in the Goron Mines first. After that they would then go to the castle to inform the Hyrulean Princess of the threat of Malbex.

His entire party seemed excited at the thought of meeting the Princess of Hyrule, yet Link could not look forward to the events with as much vigor, as he was distracted by a sudden and returning illness.

For the next two and a half weeks of their travel, he could not seem to accustom himself to the boat's constant movement. Every morning he awoke early, his stomach making odd grumbling noises, and he would ascend to the deck, slouching groggily towards the craft's railing.

Here he would lean upon the rail, forcing his tired eyes to fix themselves upon the horizon, attempting to keep his mind off of his desire to hurl every time the boat creaked to one of its sides. He found himself wishing more than once that Darwin would show up and hand him the same concoction that he had given to him while aboard the _Maysee_.

Upon thinking of the young boy, Link recalled the situation that he had last seen him in. According to the doctor that had remained with him, it would be a miracle if he survived another two hours.

Remembering this, anger directed at the most likely deceased captain of the _Maysee_ shot through him. How could he injure a child so seriously? Even if the boy were nothing more than his servant, was such an act even reasonable? In the end, Link allowed his ire to die away, for feeling such a way made him even sicklier.

Finally, while he had been clinging to the railing with the most miserable expression on his face one morning, Sarah suddenly shouted that they were approaching Albaan.

Jumping at her abrupt shriek but quickly recovering, Link rushed to the front side of the boat, completely ignoring the sickening feeling building in his gut, to peer through the morning's fog. Just a few miles ahead he could see the dark outline of a large piece of land and the silhouette of its port city.

As Link gazed at the community, he could feel a presence approaching him from behind and gathering around him. Flicking his eyes to the left and right, he saw that Katrina, Mekial, Brent, Dijonay and Renée, as well as Monroe, had joined him to watch the country of Albaan grow ever closer.

"I'd say we'll get there in about an hour or so," Monroe said suddenly, drawing all attention to him. "You should all start to gather your things."

Without a word, the group of young adults filed down to the bunks of the fishing boat, gathering their weapons and supplies before they returned to the above deck.

As the craft drew closer to the seaport, the sail was reefed and Sarah allowed the boat to gently float towards the piers. Once they had arrived at the haven, Monroe grabbed a long and thick rope and tied his boat to the pier. He then faced his passengers while gesturing to the foggy scene of Albaan's port city, Xerxes.

"Well, we made it," he started. "There's a caravan here that can take you straight to Heletica's Pass..." His voice trailed off as he cast eyes back to the foggy city. "Oh." He turned back to face them. "Looks like we showed up just in time for you guys to catch one of 'em." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, towards a throng of people crowding into lines in order to group into a few wagons. He then dropped his hand to his side and gave the group a small smile. "Well...this is goodbye. A pleasure hangin' out with you all for the past two and a half weeks."

Sarah approached the group from the bridge, her face split into a broad smile and her eyes shining with what looked like the smallest of tears. "Hope you guys make it to where you're going safely," she said and she shook their hands. "Well, um... Happy travelin'." She gave what looked like a shrug, as though she did not know what else to say, and then she stepped away from them, waving along with her grandfather as they departed.

Chorusing their thanks, the party disembarked Monroe's fishing boat and stepped upon the wooden docks of Xerxes' seaport. Immediately they made their way towards the throng of people and, once reaching this crowd, they blended in with them.

As the lines began to thin out as people boarded the vehicles, Link and the others could see the wagons more clearly. Even from where they stood they could see that they were quickly growing filled, yet, fortunately, there were still some scattered spaces that appeared to be big enough for them to fit in.

Upon reaching the driver of one of the less-crowded wagons, the team pitched their money together in order to pay for passage. Their currency being accepted, they all climbed in to the carriage and settled into an open spot, wanting to stretch their legs but not having enough room to do so.

Minutes after they had gotten aboard and after a few more people climbed and squeezed into the wagon, their ears heard the sound of whips cracking against the sides of the horses, then the wagons began to be pulled forward, their wheels rumbling and bumping over the uneven terrain of the dirt road that led out of Xerxes.

Along this road, Link and his company would feel their heart skip a beat when the wagon bumbled over a pothole, panicking and wondering if the simple imperfection were actually a Hole. However, when the horse-led wagon would continue down the path towards the Pass, their nerves would calm.

During most of the ride, they did not speak to each other, more because they were not close to one another for their conversation to be more private than because they had nothing to say. However, they were the only ones who had thoughts of privacy, as the other riders in the wagon did not seem to care who overheard them.

The vehicle was overwhelmed with the sound of overlapping conversations, some voices occasionally rising over others or loud and obnoxious laughter suddenly exploding from a certain part of the wagon. The sound of these voices becoming mere grunts and murmurs in her ears, Renée began to allow her eyelids to fall over her eyes.

But the sound of a man next to her suddenly jumping as he burst into a fit of laughter jolted her out of her peaceful state. She cast a sideways glare at the round oaf who had disturbed her before trying to shift herself into a more comfortable position, trying not to disturb the strangers around her. But she suddenly stopped and all her desires to sleep were whisked away when she heard the laughing man say, "Some kinda treasure in Hyrule, you said?"

He was still laughing, his chins jiggling and his amused eyes looking at another man beside him. This man's face was framed with long and messy hair and his dark, narrow eyes looked at the chuckling man beside him with the utmost calm, as though his being ridiculed did not faze him at all. In fact a small smile was visible upon his angular face, which was half-covered by the hairs of a growing beard.

He had boarded the wagon in the company of three others, all of them appearing unclean and ragged and their bodies ranging from lean to muscular; they looked as though they were world travelers, their tired eyes having seen what no other man has seen, and the smiles on their faces showing that they knew what no other man knew.

"Of course," the second man answered the laughing one in a smooth and calm voice. Renée shifted in discomfort from the sound of the man's amazingly soothing voice, though she continued to listen to the discussion, despite the way her conscience attacked her. "Treasures left behind by the ancients, treasures hidden deep underground, ancient, more valuable treasures hidden and kept in the care of citizens..." He inclined his head towards his traveling companions. "We're treasure hunters, after all. And we go wherever treasure is."

"And you think there's a valuable treasure somewhere in Hyrule?" the first man inquired, his voice rising with curiosity.

Renée's eyes flicked over to the companion that was closest to her, this being Katrina, who also seemed interested in what the man was speaking about.

"It's Hyrule," the treasure hunting man replied. "One of the lands most famous for its historical events. I'm positive that there's some treasure from way back when that is lying around in Hyrule somewhere. We'll be checking all of the major cities first—Castle Town, Kakariko...eventually we'll go and see those fish-people, the...what were they called again?"

He looked to one of his larger comrades, a bald headed man with thick eyebrows, a large nose and a beard growing on his chin.

"Zoras," he said and his leader turned back to speak to the man who had laughed at him.

But at that point Renée and Katrina stopped listening, both of them hoping that the men would not check Kakariko Village first. Link had told them that the Goron Mines were located in that village and, if those treasure hunters were to find the same shard of Power that they were looking for, there would be no telling what they would have to go through in order to take it from them.

The rest of their travel to Heletica's Pass was dull and uneventful, and the caravans arrived at Heletica's Pass unharmed.

Filing out of the wagon trains and regrouping, Link and his traveling companions followed the crowds towards the banks of the nearby river. The fog having lifted long ago, the path to the river was easy to see, and the watercourse was seen to be stretching down the dirt terrain in the direction of the Great Sea, while its opposite half disappeared within the shadows of the two mountains that it poured from. Upon reaching the body of water, it was discovered that there was a riverboat that would take them upstream and into the land of Hyrule.

Hearts pounding with excitement, Brent and Renée were the first of their party to board the riverboat and they even made their way towards its front in order to be able to be the first to see the land of Hyrule loom into view.

Even as the rest of the crowd ambled aboard the boat, the two had drowned themselves in conversation, sharing their thoughts on what they thought the land of Hyrule was like.

From afar, Link couldn't help but smile at their excitement. He, too, shared in it, for he was glad to finally be able to return to his home country.

The upstream ride upon the waters of Heletica River was a long one, taking up nearly the entire rest of the day. What with everyone having to stand the entire time, it seemed as though the ride were taking much longer. Even so, the entire group managed to survive the torment, their feet aching and their legs tired—though they were able to ignore the pain when, through a cluster of trees that they had begun to pass on their left, they were able to see the widespread plains of the country of Hyrule.

Near the front of the boat, the sight enchanted Brent and Renée, their wide eyes drinking in what little of Hyrule that they were able to see. When the image of it was then blocked by the more closely set trees further ahead, they had fallen completely silent, bouncing on the balls of their feet and watching the sights around them, waiting to be able to see more. For, even though they had just seen it, even though they knew that they were soon going to be able to see more of it, they still could not believe that it was true.

Hyrule _was_ real. They had been right all along.

Brent's light brown eyes shined along with his smile. _Wait 'til everyone hears about this when I get back..._

The riverboat was docked at a simple log cabin surrounded by tall, healthy green trees a few miles further ahead. Here, a wide plank of wood was used as a bridge, connecting the deck of the wooden riverboat to the deck of the wooden lodge.

Muttering and chatting amongst themselves, the people aboard the boat crossed the bridge, attempting to push by others as they did so and utterly jamming the span with human traffic. After one of the people in charge of the ride had stepped forward to tame the people and their excitement, they were finally able to disembark the boat and take their first few steps upon Hyrulean soil.

Just as soon as the soles of her boots had touched this country's ground, Renée let all of her excitement explode out of her and she threw her arms into the air while turning to look at the rest of her group.

"We're here!" she exclaimed joyously. "We're here, we're here! It's real!" She could not say anything else, for a joyful cry had erupted from her throat then, concluding that she was indeed terribly happy to be where she was now.

Sighing and lowering her hands once her shout had ended, the young Arkanian peeked up through the canopy of the beautiful green leaves above her, her brown eyes sparkling as she stared at the red-orange and purple sky. Then she spun in a small circle, taking in a deep breath of the evening air of Hyrule.

"Someone's ecstatic," Katrina murmured, having shown no other reaction to arriving in Hyrule other than a slightly impressed look on her face.

Having grown up in a Hylian community as a child, she could not truly relate to the exhilaration that Brent and Renée shared. Though, she could understand it: after all, the country that they had been raised in had utterly hated Hylians, enslaving them and beating them, starving them and hurting them.

A couple of times as a child, Katrina had heard stories of a fellow Corvenian being caught by Thrall Cell soldiers in Arkania, though when she heard these stories she had not truly understood them. Now older and having even participated in raiding the facility that held those Hylians captive, Katrina wondered if the Arkanians were planning on holding pointy-eared humans in bondage forever.

The same man that had been sent to settle the pushing and shoving crowd on the bridge stood upon the porch of the cabin, projecting his voice so that everyone could hear him. However, Katrina and the others completely ignored his words, already knowing that they were not planning on remaining in company of the people that were around them.

Just as they were going over how they were to reach the village of Kakariko, a terrifying shriek split the previously peaceful air. Their entire party had jumped, their eyes flicking to and fro as they tried to find what the source of danger was.

The man who had been speaking had stopped abruptly, his concerned eyes roving over the crowd for the source of the sound. The crowd around him had averted their attention, some shifting with discomfort while others curiously looked around; still others moved closer to their companions.

Then the scream came again, though this time Link and his accomplices realized that the cry was not that of a Shadow but rather that of a followed the shout, finding themselves standing near the start of the forest that surrounded the nearby log cabin.

There they saw a woman, still shrieking, while her arms were wrapped around her son's small body, both of them with their distended eyes staring at the hideous creature that stood before them, brandishing its club while growling at the helpless pair.

It was a blue bokoblin.

Although it was a small threat, the ones who had arrived on the scene did not dismiss it. Katrina fell to one knee and nocked an arrow, then let it soar from her bowstring.

The sharp metal tip plunged straight and true through the monster's small neck, continuing to sink in down to its fletching.

Gagging and choking, the creature sank to its knees before falling upon its side, yellow eyes agape and its mouth hanging loosely agape.

While Katrina had attacked, the woman had been watching with her mouth opened in a silent scream. Once the monster had fallen, lying completely still, she turned her eyes towards the bowman that had saved her and her child. The boy also looked at Katrina, his wide eyes looking from her to the fallen creature and back in shock.

Katrina rose from her attack position, replacing her bow in the quiver that hung across her back. Behind her, she heard Brent whisper to her, "Nice shot," though she gave no reply.

Link approached the woman and her son, holding his hand out to help them to their feet.

"Are you all right?" he asked them as the woman gratefully took his hand. Upon his back he could feel the eyes of not only his traveling companions but also the eyes of some of the people in the crowd. Faintly he could hear the voice of the man from earlier continuing his speech.

"I...y-yes," the woman stammered, rising to her feet and pulling her son up with him. Once standing, the small boy released his mother's hand and rushed to Katrina.

He then stopped suddenly, staring up at her cold expression with a look of fear. Seeing this and frowning, Renée elbowed Katrina in the side, receiving an instant glare from the girl.

The Corvenian then dropped her eyes to the boy, her expression having softened somewhat awkwardly, thus still maintaining its hardened quality.

The boy twiddled his fingers for a moment and dropped his eyes to the grass before forcing them to look at the towering Hylian girl before him. He swallowed and then looked to those that were around her, as though hoping to gain some encouragement from them.

His eyes stopped on Mekial who, upon noticing the boy staring at him, shifted uncomfortably.

"W-what?"

"Um..." The boy then returned his eyes to Katrina and, sucking in his breath he threw his arms around her waist and then let go. "Th-thank you for helping me and Ma."

Katrina, having been shortly surprised by the boy's fleeting hug, did not answer. Nor was she able to, for as soon as the boy had finished with his mission, he had rushed back to his mother, gripping her hand and never looking back. His eyes flicked up to Link, who smiled at him, before the two returned to the nearby crowd.

"Katrina, that boy looked like he was scared of you," Dijonay said softly, her fingers brushing her lips as her brow furrowed with concern.

"Don't pester me," the Corvenian growled, folding her arms and casting her eyes to a large boulder to her right. Dijonay regarded her turned-away face with a frown before directing her attention to Link, who was making his way towards them.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, his eyes left the faces of his comrades to look at the crowd of people that they had arrived with. Judging by how they were beginning to disperse and follow a trail in the woods, the man from earlier had finished his announcement and had dismissed them.

"We should get going too," he said, returning his eyes to everyone. "It'll take us a while to reach Kakariko—we should start while there's still a bit of light out. Quicker we move, less likely it is we'll have to deal with more monsters."

"More monsters?" Renée repeated, frowning.

Link nodded, leading them in the same direction as the herd of people that were by now vanishing beneath a hill that trail descended. "Just like how weird people show up more at night, more monsters show up when the sun's down." Not particularly fond of his analogy though seeing his point, Renée fell into step behind him, as did the others.

They followed behind the large group of people at a safe distance, their path never interrupted by a tree limb or an irritating tree root. It could easily be concluded that the people in charge of leading crowds down this trail had made sure that it was clear and passable.

This theory was only proved correct when the small party spotted stray holes in some of the trees' trunks, showing their underlying layer of lighter colored bark. There were also indentations in the ground, showing that movable roots had been uprooted to prevent tripping.

The trail ended by the edge of the forest, revealing the fields of Faron located by the road that led into Eldin Province. The land here was blanketed with the light of twilight, its trees having an ethereal glow and its small pond shimmering in the sun's setting colors.

Link let his eyes slide across the fields until he was looking in the direction of Ordon and, for a short moment, he wondered if he should tell the others that there was to be a change in plans and that they were going to head to the shard that was hidden in the ancient forest instead.

He nearly acted upon this urge, however upon seeing the crowd from earlier go in that same direction, intending to arrive at Castle Town, he was forced to stick to the former plan. Even as he and his group separated from the larger one, he could still feel that small part of him wanting to return home.

But he knew that he could not; having been given a piece of the Triforce, presumably it was his duty to keep its other, broken part safe.

Quietly, he and his group tread upon the dirt road that winded its way into the Province guarded by the spirit of Eldin. Along the way, they ran into only a handful of bokoblins, their colors varying from red to blue, and these battles were quickly won in their favor.

Upon exiting the path that had been wedged in between the two rocky hills, the group was greeted by a kargarok, swooping in with its claw-like feet and emitting its best war cry from its throat. However, this monster, too, was easily defeated.

Nighttime had long-since fallen by the time the group had reached the Kakariko Gorge. Crossing it, they could see the mountains that stood by the gate of Kakariko looming ahead of them.

"That's it, right?" Brent asked, his eyes never leaving the rock face, as though he were afraid it would disappear if he were to look away. "The way to Kakariko?"

"That's it," Link responded. "We'll rest at the inn and then head up to the Mines in the morning, since it's—"

His foot sank into the ground.

Allowing a short cry of shock to leap out of his mouth, Link attempted to leap forward, but the sinking ground was working faster: the unstable land that he had stepped into began to expand, swallowing his second foot and dooming him to fall into its depths.

Just as he began to feel all the support of the land crumble beneath his feet, there came the heavy and ringing clang of something crashing against his shield. Both the sound and the force of whatever had hit him shook through his entire body, which had by now been sent flying forward, away from the Hole forming in the ground.

Link landed a few feet away from the new Hole, making a face plant in the dirt path. Behind him and shaking through the earth, he could feel that the Hole had not ceased its growth. Thus, without waiting to see what would happen, the Hylian scrambled to his feet and sprinted forward.

As he was running, he felt the land beneath him begin to give way again and so he jumped, landing upon more solid ground. He swiveled on the spot and his eyes rested on the sight of the large abyss that had formed in the ground.

Surrounding it and staring at it the same way Link was were his companions, their chests heaving as their hearts pounded loudly from behind their rib cages. The Hole before them stretched from a couple of feet before the gorge's bridge to about partway down the road that led to Kakariko, its sides expanding a couple of feet off of the paths of this field as well.

The only one who had his weapon positioned in a way that suggested that he had used it was Brent. After breathing heavily for a short moment, trying to ease his pounding heart, he joined with the others as they cautiously circled around the Hole to regroup with Link.

"It looks a lot bigger than the last one that we saw," Renée said quietly, the sight of the wagon that she had been driving while escaping Varron sinking into the ground still clearly burned into her mind. Merely comparing the Hole from then to the one she saw now made her body shiver with fear and so she averted her eyes and took a small step in retreat.

"I have only seen one of these before," Dijonay stated softly, her eyes locked upon the Hole for a moment longer before she, too, turned away. "But it was small. I never thought that they could get this big..."

"It's almost like the world's collapsing on itself," Mekial muttered and this did not encourage the group in any way. Though no one chose to respond to it and instead turned around and made their way into Kakariko, the worries of the more frequently appearing Holes floating around in their minds.


	42. Chapter 41

**Chapter Forty-One**

The next morning the dirt clouds that floated around the village of Kakariko were more visible, blowing around the pool of the Fairy Spring and brushing up dust by the doors of the village's inhabitants and shops.

The sun peeked into the village over the tall mountains that surrounded the entire community, already beating down upon it with its morning heat. One by one, the villagers of Kakariko awakened, busying themselves with daily morning chores or heading towards the shops to buy some supplies for home.

Stepping out of the largest building in the village came a tall, dark-skinned man with long and dark hair twisted into what appeared to be dreadlocks. Dressed in a long-sleeved native robe, he was known to everyone as the priest of the village, always calm, always impartial. He, too, was preparing to start his daily activities, which included patrolling the village and greeting everyone, making sure that all was well.

Renado made his way around the sanctuary and sauntered upon the village's only main road, smiling to the children and waving to their parents. As he passed by the Elde Inn, he stopped and looked at the doorway, for walking out of it was a being that he had not seen in more than a year.

"Link?" he called, his voice showing evident surprise.

The Hyrulean looked around and then down at the sound of his name and his face split into a smile when he saw Renado.

"Bless my soul—it is you!"

Link came towards the railing of the inn's porch as Renado came closer to speak with him.

"I haven't seen you around these parts ever since the Celebration last year...what brings you around again?"

"Just decided to go around the country again," Link replied innocently, careful to hide any hints that would show that he was hiding something. Renado was, after all, very capable of being able to sense when people were lying. Whether it came with being the priest of the village or if it was just a gift, Link was unsure of. "Wound up coming here." He looked behind him at the sound of the inn's door opening to see Dijonay exiting the building with her bodyguard in tow.

"Are you traveling by yourself?" Renado inquired curiously and he did not seem all too surprised when he received a negative response.

"Not this time," Link said as Dijonay came up beside him.

She blinked and looked between the two men worriedly. "I-I'm sorry," she said, taking a small step back, "if I'm interrupting. We'll just—" She was cut off by a short laugh from the priest and she turned back to look at him, partly taken aback.

"It's quite all right," he said, his voice smiling along with his face. "You're not interrupting." He looked back to Link. "Your traveling companions, I presume?"

Link nodded. "Some of them anyway. The rest are upstairs getting ready."

"Oh?" Renado then looked down to Dijonay and Mekial and, judging by the way he was firmly focused upon them, the two figured that they should introduce themselves.

"I am Dijonay," Dijonay began. She then held a hand out and gestured to Mekial. "And this is my bodyg—err, this is Mekial," she finished hurriedly, unable to come up with a cover-up for her slip in words.

"And I'm Renado, an old acquaintance of Link's," Renado returned, taking no heed of her grammatical stumble. "I know him from when he helped our village's relationship with the Gorons not too long ago. How he did it is still a mystery to me..." As he trailed off, the doors of the inn were opened again, revealing Brent, Katrina and Renée. "The rest of them?" he asked Link who nodded in reply. He introduced himself yet again and the remaining three of Link's group respectfully gave him their names.

"So, where are you all headed next?" Renado then asked after their introductions had been complete.

"We're going to the mines," Mekial answered jauntily and Renado raised his eyebrows in interest.

"Ah, part of your 'traveling around the land'?" he asked, looking back to Link.

The Hyrulean paused in uncertainty, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him or if there truly was a hint of skepticism in Renado's voice. He felt the eyes of his companions upon him, no doubt feeling confused as to why he had not responded as quickly as they had expected.

He opened his mouth to speak, not wanting his hesitation to be taken as energy to fuel Renado's probably growing suspicion. "Yes."

Renado merely grunted in reply before he took a step away from the rail of the village's lodge. "Well, I'll let you all get to that, then." He nodded to each of them, all the while his eyes firmly locked upon Link.

Rather than break eye contact, Link looked back at Renado with the same intensity, knowing that the man was probably trying to see if there was a guise of deception in his eyes.

His azure colored orbs smoothly hid away any hint of such an action, blocking Renado from being able to see straight through his appearance and into the working gears of his mind.

Finally, the priest broke the connection, turned and continued on with his duty of patrolling the village, greeting its inhabitants as though his encounter with Link and his new allies had never even occurred.

"That guy was sort of...um..." Mekial frowned as he tried to find the right word to use.

"Dubious?" Katrina offered, but Mekial shook his head.

"Doubtful," he said, "of us, I mean." Katrina did not bother to explain to the twelve-year-old what the word 'dubious' actually meant, but rather branched off of his comment with a reply.

"Well, it's not like we really told him what we were doing," she said. "It makes sense for him to think that there's something up. Then again..." Her already slim green eyes narrowed even more as she glared at the backside of Renado while he spoke to one of the villagers, "...I don't think it's really much of his business."

"It isn't," Link confirmed, "but we can't blame him for being a bit suspicious. It's not everyday an old acquaintance shows up with five non-Hyruleans, meaning to go and see the Gorons because they're 'traveling together'."

Katrina frowned. "That's what you told him?"

Brent snorted. "No wonder he's suspicious..."

Link did not say anything to either of their comments, but rather led the group off of the inn's porch and up the wide path in the direction of the roadway that led to the mines. Once reaching the empty area that was the starting point of the mountain pass that led up to Death Mountain, the group climbed up the ladder propped up against a high flat wall before continuing on the path towards the community of the Gorons, ducking and rolling beneath the clouds of steam that erupted from small geysers and climbing over piles of rock that blocked parts of the road.

When they had finally arrived at the base of the Goron Mines, all but Link looked up to the charred mountain half-hidden behind the large and rocky hills nearby them. Steam was coiling off of the lake of lava that could be seen on the mountain's crown, causing the skies around it to waver in its heat. This high temperature seemed to be able to reach them, even from where they stood miles away, heating up their skin and causing sweat to form on their brows.

"What the heck is that?" Brent murmured, frowning up at the boiling lava rock. "Doesn't look like a volcano..."

"That's Death Mountain," Link told him casually, expertly ignoring the bewildered stares that he received.

Brent was the only one who had not turned his eyes away from the sight; rather, he had shrugged. "Name sure does sound like 'volcano', though..."

"Why not just call it a volcano?" Renée asked rhetorically. She shook her head. "'Death Mountain'..." She scoffed. "No use trying to hide that it's still a volcano..."

Link walked towards a cave entrance in the side of the mountain mines' base. He stooped beneath its low archway and shuffled forward, careful not to raise his head too early otherwise crash into the roof of the small tunnel.

Upon reaching the opposite end of the earth corridor, he was met with the sight of a winding ramp that led up to yet another hill.

Without waiting for the others, he started up this ramp, his boots making hollow clunking noises as they collided with the metal bars that ran awkwardly up the ramp. At the head of the incline, he waited for his allies to catch up to him before continuing towards the Goron-made elevator.

He heard those behind him let out a small gasp of awe and he presumed that they had never seen such an invention before. Operated by the heavy weight of a Goron, this elevator led straight to the room that stood before the entrance of the mines. Yet, Link not being as a heavy as a Goron, he could only operate the machinery by equipping his iron boots and standing upon the button in the center of the elevator's platform.

He did just this once he and the others were standing upon the contraption, sliding his booted feet into its iron clones and standing upon the single button that the elevator was worked by.

As soon as the fastener had been pressed into the platform, the elevator began to ascend, its metal edges sliding roughly against the grating of its metal poles. Shadow consumed the group then, deafening their senses slightly, only to be immediately washed away when the light of a crackling torch somewhere above reached them.

The elevator ceased its upward movement, allowing them to see the main meeting room of the Goron community. Just as Link had seen the year before, only a small handful of Gorons were located in that room, burly, tall and their arms folded as they stood before their allotted positions.

The first Goron that the group ran into had his rocky, unleveled back to them, his body constantly shifting his weight from one tiny leg to the other. Just as he had wondered before, Link thought of how their massive bodies could be supported on legs that were so disproportionate to their size. He let his eyes look fleetingly to his companions and judging by their awed expressions, he guessed that they were probably wondering the same thing.

Then Link cleared his throat, intending to get the large creature's attention.

The attempt worked and, after looking to both his left and right, the Goron turned, his large purple eyes growing ever larger when he laid eyes on Link.

"Brother!" he exclaimed in an overly cheery voice that did not match his appearance, and he raised a hand.

Around him, Link heard his allies shift to grab a hold of their weapons and the Goron's hand came down, however not intending to hurt, but to show affection.

And how affectionate that hand was—it came crashing down upon Link's back heavily, sending earthquakes shooting up and down his spine. He felt amazing gratitude for the metal shield on its back, glad that it had absorbed most of the Goron's powerful slap.

A small grunt had slipped out from behind Link's clenched teeth and his body was forced to hunch over. Just as he thought it would be safe to rise to his full stature the Goron's hand had come soaring down again, forcing his body to completely and utterly fall to the ground.

He groaned and lay on the ground for a long moment, waiting for the vibrating pain to complete its course throughout his body.

"You're back!" the Goron beamed, the broad grin on his wide face showing that he was not at all aware of the obvious pain he had inflicted upon the young hero. "And with others!" He raised a hand to slap them on the back as well, first reaching for Brent and Dijonay.

Brent threw his hands up and stepped back while his sibling had stiffened.

"Aha! That's okay!" he laughed in a nervous haste, only wanting his words to be heard before the Goron could move any closer and accidentally break his spinal cord.

Looking partly offended, the Goron pulled back though looked upon the others with a smile. Although this was a friendly gesture, it could not hold back the intimidating look that his body gave off, which was marked with straight and curved white tribal lines, as well as covered in certain parts with a rocky texture. Like his other mountain dwelling brothers, this Goron was dressed in nothing but a plain loincloth, exposing the rest of his body without so much as a breath of embarrassment.

"What brings you here, Brother?" the Goron asked, returning his eyes to Link who had by now staggered to his feet. The Hyrulean rubbed his neck before responding.

"Ah...a lot of things, really. Long story." He straightened up and decided to move straight to the point. "But...have you been having any trouble at all, lately? Maybe with your Mines?"

The Goron let out a full and hearty laugh and raised his hand again. The small humans beneath him braced themselves, fleetingly hoping that they were not to be the next victim of the rock-eating creature's next "welcoming" gesture.

To their relief, the Goron had raised his hand only to scratch at a spot somewhere upon his rock covered skull. They let out a deep breath, having not realized that they had even been holding it in.

"Brother, you came all this way just to check on us? I should've known!" His smile then faded a little, though still leaving his lips pulled upward slightly. "You seem to always show up right when we're having trouble, just like last year..."

Dijonay stepped forward, raising a hand to her chest. "Then...you are having trouble?"

The Goron nodded sadly, his once happy expression having now completely vanished, leaving no trace of itself upon his face. "Only a couple of weeks ago, strange things started to happen in the mines," he began to explain, "and monsters started to show up again, almost as if something inside had drawn them there. Whatever it is, it must be powerful—such strong monsters have never showed up in our mines before."

"How strong?" Brent pressed.

"Very," the Goron returned, putting emphasis upon the single-worded response. "When Darbus, our patriarch, went in to fight them, they nearly beat him down—I wasn't there, but I couldn't believe it when I heard about it. Now, almost all of the Gorons are too scared to go into that part of the mines, thinking that those monsters will give them the same beating given to our patriarch—or even worse."

Hearing this, Link felt suddenly disheartened. Darbus, the leader of the Goron tribe, was the largest of the entire group, also appearing to be the most well built. To think that such a powerful and proud ruler could have been nearly taken down by some monster did seem, as the Goron had said, unbelievable.

But Darbus was not immortal and so a part of Link did agree that the rock-eating leader had to be defeated at some point, though Link had just not been prepared for hearing such information. What kind of monster could have given Darbus such a strong challenge?

The last time he had been in the mines it had been overrun by nothing other than beamos and bulbins—neither of these creatures would stand even the smallest chance against the Goron patriarch, let alone a simple member of the tribe.

Link racked his brains for any other type of monster that may have been able to fight him, however he came up dry, for most of the monsters that he thought of could not dwell in a place as hot and unsustainable as the mines.

_Unless..._

"Did anyone tell you what the monsters looked like?" he asked, already dreading the answer. The Goron nodded and he swallowed, his fists clenching by his sides. Then, the Goron made a reply, one that caused the blood in the humans' veins to run cold.

"Frightening things they are, those Shadows."


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter Forty-Two**

Such bright light swam into the bedroom through the open window, dotting the scratched floorboards with its light and illuminating the particles of dust that floated in the air. Birds soared by the window, chirping, twittering and their wings beating against the flow of the gentle wind; always to be the first of Ordon to awaken, always to be the first of Ordon to sleep.

Of the small village's citizens, a new inhabitant was the next to awaken. His hands flinched beneath the covers of his blanket and his eyes scrunched shut, his tiny, silver eyebrows puckering as the light of the sun began to seep into his consciousness. Then, slowly, he allowed his crimson eyes to open and he stared through the light that burned against his face, waiting for everything around him to come into focus.

As far as he could tell, there was nothing above him save a wooden roof, roots of large trees snaking in and out from between some of the boards that made up its appearance. One of the leaves attached to these roots suddenly detached itself from its branch and glided towards the ground, flipping and pivoting in the air as it fell. Its softness brushed against the nose of Ordon's visitor before sliding off of his blue face and settling upon the mattress that he lay upon.

The boy removed one of his hands from beneath the covering of the blanket and picked up the leaf by its stem, then he held it in front of his scrutinizing gaze, twisting it as he held it between his forefinger and thumb.

Then, he sat up, his short, silvery-gray hair falling around his face and neck in a graceful way and tickling his skin. He then turned in the bed, supporting his upper body with one hand and his tired red eyes found the source of gleaming light that had awoken him. He searched either side of the window for a curtain, only feeling a slight pang of disappointment when he found none. But the rest of him was glad—

No more darkness.

Morbex swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his eyes, intending to brush away the sleepiness that still hung over him. As he did this, his mind's eye could see the pitch-black closet that he had been locked in, sealing him in omnipresent silence with only the light of the cracked door to keep him company. Upon recalling how he had ended up in such a dreary place as that and who had done it to him, he ceased rubbing his eyes and stared at his bare and blue feet.

_Why is he so...?_

Morbex placed his hands upon the bed then, removing them from his lap, and he got to his feet, searching for his shoes. Once he found them he slipped them on and, as he rose, he spotted a handkerchief located upon the bed stand. But it was not the handkerchief that had attracted Morbex's attention, but rather, what was upon it:

The shards of his unsuccessful Grell.

He stretched out a hand towards the napkin, his fingertips pushing some of the clear pebbles around and scratching the cloth that it lay upon. His expression falling to that of somberness, he gathered the stones into a pile and then wrapped the cloth around them. He then tied it shut and tucked it into a pocket on the underside of his two-winged jacket.

Morbex then made his way towards the circular window located at the head of his borrowed bed and he poked his head out through it. A gasp seeped passed his lips and his eyes widened as they rested upon the sight before him.

He had not seen so much green in too long: tall trees towered above the tree house that his head was poking out of and their long branches allowed their leaves to cast wide shadows of shade upon the ground. Somewhere in the large expanse of blue above him, there was a hawk, flying in wide circles as though it were watching the perimeter of the area. Near this fowl the sun could be spotted high in the sky, probably floating around noon or a little after.

Morbex then dropped his eyes to the green lawn of the house, his eyebrows rising when he spotted two beings standing there. One was a young woman, her light brown hair cow licking off to the right side of her head. Morbex could not see her face, for her back was turned to him as she spoke with another man, tall and large, with squinting eyes and a bald head. Morbex strained his ears to hear what they were saying, however they were too far away; although his pointy ears were Hylian-like, they were far from the real thing.

Then, the girl turned and began to approach the tree house. Morbex watched as the man that she had been speaking to watched her depart and, after letting out a deep sigh, he turned to face the opposite direction and ambled towards the dirt path behind him, disappearing around the bend that it took.

From below, the blue-skinned imp suddenly heard the sound of a door softly creaking open and then clicking shut. He turned on the spot, finding himself facing the railing that bordered the platform that he was on. Far below, he heard the footsteps of the girl pat across the floorboards steadily, slowly, almost hesitantly. In the same way, Morbex approached the banister and silently placed his hands upon it before leaning forward, peering down to the darker levels of the house.

The girl was barefoot, explaining the patting sounds that her feet made with each step that she took. In one of her hands she held a bottle of liquid, appearing to be red from where Morbex stood. He remained rooted on the spot, either by fear or curiosity, as the girl approached a ladder leading to a floor just below him that bore upon it a shelving unit filled with books.

Beside it there was a small table cluttered with open books about shepherding or farming, along with a cup of writing utensils. Morbex turned his head to watch the girl upon this platform, however she did not stop to look at any of the things that he had noticed. Rather, she continued towards a second ladder, the one that led to where he was standing.

It was then Morbex realized that he was glued to the spot because of fear.

What was it that the girl was holding? Was she going to hurt him too, just as his brother had done? Was she here to tell him that Malbex's plan had succeeded and that all hope had been lost?

Morbex shook away that last thought; that was just him being paranoid. He nearly laughed aloud at himself, however he held it in once the head of the stranger appeared above the ladder.

Her green eyes widened when she saw that Morbex was standing, fully alert and, now, fully awake. The way the light of the sun cast shadows upon his face prevented her from seeing the lump form in his throat as he swallowed. She remembered when she had first seen him, lying helpless and defeated in the road, his eyes closed and looking as though all strength had left him to be sent to an early grave. Now, seeing him before her with his eyes opened, she could not seem to compare him to that sight from so long ago.

She could not compare his bright red eyes to the sleeping ones she had seen. She could not compare his posture of tension to the weak one she had seen. She could not compare his healthier looking blue skin to the pale one she had seen. She could not say that she had been prepared for such differences in him.

Perhaps the red potions that she and the villagers had been giving him at mealtimes while he slept had finally begun to take effect, slowly reviving him and imbuing his frail body with the strength that it needed to thrive.

Illia climbed up the rest of the ladder until she was standing before the boy. She towered over him, making her feel as though she were looking at one of the children of the village. She took a small step forward and, as expected, Morbex took a small step backward, his eyes narrowing. He knew that if he were to be attacked by this kind-looking girl he would be taken down in his cursed state and he did not want to show that to her.

He mustered up every speckle of defiance that was in his being, forcing it to show in his burning and fiery red eyes. Illia made to move again and his knees and elbows buckled, preparing him to leap off of the bedroom floor if he had to. But, to his surprise, the girl had instead lowered herself to his height, holding out the bottle of potion while giving him a soft smile.

At that point, all rebelliousness leaked out of Morbex's only visible eye to be replaced with confusion. He frowned and eyed the potion bitterly before allowing his eyes to look back to the girl, demanding an explanation. He did not move nor avert his eyes from her as he waited.

"Um...hello there," she started, only wishing for Morbex to feel comfortable. "My name is Illia. I'm the daughter of the mayor of this village." Still, Morbex did not speak but again flicked his eyes towards the potion and back to her. "This is a red potion," she began to inform him, his silent inquiry translating in her mind. "It's actually what we've been giving you while you were asleep...I'd say it's what's been healing you and has helped you wake up just now." She offered another smile and then held the bottle out to him more and, to her pleasure, Morbex took it, gently slipping his fingers around its body and pulling it towards him.

He eyed the concoction suspiciously before uncorking it. Then he wrinkled his nose when the scent of the liquid reached him, resisting the urge to hurl the item out the window. Rather, he slowly drew it to his lips and gulped it down, nearly gasping and choking on its bitter taste. He managed to consume only half of the bottle before he tore it away from himself, holding it out to Illia as though it were an abomination.

"Ugh, that is the most _foul_..." He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, wiping away the taste that still remained on his lips. The smile never leaving her face, Illia took the bottle and cork from him.

"Well, I've told you my name," she said, "and you've been in mostly my care ever since you showed up here. So, mind telling me your name?"

After finally accepting that attempting to wipe away the potion's taste was a futile action, Morbex looked up to her. "My name is Morbex." He paused. "Zenor."

"Morbex Zenor?" Illia repeated softly. "That's an interesting name. Where are you from?"

Morbex regarded her with a blank stare, one that made her almost shift in discomfort due to his large and penetrating red irises. "I'm from...a-away."

"Away?"

"Eldonis."

"Oh. Where's that?"

Again Morbex stared at her. "...Across the sea."

"Oh, that _is_ far..."

The pair was then caught in silence, neither knowing what to say next. Finally, Morbex broke through the soundless atmosphere. "Where am I?"

"You're in Ordona Province, southernmost part of Hyrule," Illia answered instantly, as though she had rehearsed the answer in anticipation of him asking it. She noticed that when she had said 'Hyrule' a flash had appeared in Morbex's eyes.

Perhaps his Grell's malfunction had not been a complete failure after all.

Hyrule was a country that he had heard Malbex constantly muttering about. If his memory were correct, there were two wielders of the Triforce living somewhere in Hyrule, blissfully unaware of what Malbex was plotting against them. If Morbex were to act quickly, perhaps he could warn those two wielders before Malbex got to them and extracted their Triforce pieces from their bodies.

Thinking of how Malbex were to go about with such an action, Morbex felt a shiver run up his spine. Using the magic of their people to rip peoples' souls apart was despicable and cruel. Even though he did not want to imagine his elder sibling doing such a thing, he had no choice but to believe it. After all, the man himself had told him that he would.

The only problem that Morbex had with his plan was that he did not know where or even who the wielders of the Triforce were. For all he knew, the girl before him could be within ownership of one. Deftly, he allowed his eyes to flick towards either of her hands as she corked the bottle shut, though he found no mark of the Triforce upon them. It was frustrating but reasonable—it was not as though he would find a wielder in one quick moment.

Or could he?

Using the magic that his people shared, he was capable of searching for anyone that he wanted to search for, in this case the wielders. Though, as soon as he thought of this he immediately dismissed the idea. He would need to know what the wielders looked like in order to search for them and he did not even have any hint as to who they even were. He did not even have enough strength in his cursed body to do such a thing.

The magic that he was thinking of would allow him to search for their faces and, if he needed to, he would be able to give them an urge to do whatever he willed. It was a god-like power that was difficult to master, having taken Morbex ten years of his life to perfect while under the instruction of his teachers from back home. His tribe had such magic only because of their dark ancestors, who had studied the dark arts and powerful magic. The studies that they had made and passed down to their people had wound up being their demise, however, as they were caught and punished by the light spirits.

Doing things such as creating the Fused Shadows had been a terrible idea indeed.

"You've been out for a long time, too," Illia continued when she had finished screwing the cork into the bottle's opening. "More than a month." She regarded him with a sympathetic glance before returning her attention to the bottle, though Morbex had not noticed, being too shocked by her information to register her presence any longer.

_A month...?_

His plans shattered. There was no way that Malbex had not already started his movement upon the wielders while Morbex had been gone. For all he knew, he might also be on his brother's hit list now, seeing as he had escaped from his clutches. He and the wielders were now, most likely, riding in the same boat.

But at the same time, he wondered why his brother had not come to get him yet. With his Seeker, he would be able to find Morbex whenever he had wanted to. Why then, would he have not jumped to drag him back into that black and suffocating closet?

"Now that I think about it..." Illia's voice tuned into Morbex's hopeless thoughts and he began to listen to her, though he did not look at her, "...my father's been telling me every day that if I find you awake he wants me to take you to him."

Hearing this, Morbex finally looked up to her. "I'm sure it's nothing too bad," she added to his depressed expression. Morbex failed to inform her that his gloomy look had nothing to do with what she had just told him. "He probably just wants to ask you a couple of questions, like I did. I'll take you to him right now." She then turned and climbed down the ladder. Upon that floor she waited for Morbex to follow.

Sluggishly the boy did, climbing down the ladder as though his legs were moving through molasses. Concerned though making no comment of his lethargic behavior, Illia led Morbex to the second ladder.

As he followed her, his brow furrowed and his thoughts overlapping one after the other, his peripheral vision gave him the image of a photo lying on top of the bookshelf. While Illia climbed down the second ladder, he turned to fully look at it and his eyelids pulled back, enlarging his red orbs of sight.

He snatched the picture from its location and leaped off of the platform, landing just behind Illia. The poor Ordonian jumped upon hearing the sudden thump and whipped around, her startled eyes taking in the wide-eyed expression of the Eldonese boy.

Without a word, he shoved the picture into her hands and pointed to the being in the center of the photo, whose arms were wrapped around the necks of two other boys in a playful manner. The backs of the man's bare hands were clearly visible, and it was what was on the back of one of these hands that had brought all life back into Morbex. "Who is that?" he gasped, his weakened body winded by the giant spring he had taken.

"U-uh..." Illia took a short second to gather her thoughts and brush Morbex's hectic actions to the back of her mind, "that's Link." As soon as she said the name, Morbex noticed Illia's expression fall to utter sadness.

While the name had fallen off of her tongue, the mayor's daughter recalled the night Link had suddenly departed from the village without even the smallest breath of a farewell.

That had been over two months ago, she realized, or maybe even three, and she had never seen nor heard from him again. Every night she struggled to sleep, her thoughts wrought with frightening images of Link getting too hurt to return home. She had tried to send a letter to him, however the postman had not once stopped by Ordon as he usually did. Even when she had gone to the stables of the Ordon ranch, thinking that he was hiding in there again, she had not found him.

Subconsciously, her fingers gripped the photo, wrinkling its corners and distorting the broad smile that Link was giving her. A sudden splotch of water appeared in a corner of the picture, causing Illia to start, before she realized that it had been a tear that had slipped from her eye. She sniffed.

"Where is he?" Morbex asked, making sure that his voice did not sound too demanding. "I have to speak with him!" Seeing Illia's face contort and look as though she might burst into tears was the last thing that he had wanted to see. Too surprised to say anything more, he only blinked and stared at her, wondering if he had struck a nerve.

"He's not here," she choked out, struggling to hold her tears back while her cheeks continued to redden. "He's gone."

"G-gone...?" Morbex echoed, his voice barely above that of a whisper. Had he been too late?

_No..._

Clenching his teeth and swallowing a gagging amount of despair, Morbex dropped his eyes to the photo, staring at the upside-down face of the Triforce wielder. His eyes then darted back to Illia's now tear-stained visage and he nearly faltered; quickly he composed himself and looked into Illia's reddening gaze with a firm one. "What do you mean?" Part of him did not want to know what she meant, but more of him wanted to know—more of him wanted to be sure that he still had a chance at foiling his sibling's plot.

"He left," Illia answered softly, raising an arm and wiping her eyes, smearing her face with salty water, "and he didn't say anything at all. He just...left."

"...Do you know why?" Morbex pushed, feeling sorry that he was pestering her with questions even in her present condition.

"No, I don't know why!" Illia snapped, slapping her arm to her side and leaning forward. Hurriedly she pulled back and drew a hand to her lips, her wide eyes looking at Morbex with guilt. "I-I'm sorry...it's just..."

"No, I...it's fine," the foreign boy replied, taking no heed of her sudden outburst. Illia did not say anything else, but rather dropped her eyes to the picture again, stroking the jawline of Link with a finger. How she longed to see him in person once again, just to find that he was safe...

"Why are you...so interested in him, anyway?" she asked, allowing her gaze to slide away from the picture to look at Morbex's troubled expression. He looked to her fleetingly before turning his vision to look at the empty oven.

"I guess you could say that I'm looking for someone like him," he responded slowly. "It's important that I talk to him."

"Oh..." She shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as memories of the events from the previous year came flooding back to her, namely recalling when Link had told her and the other village children of some of the things that he had come across during his adventure. From his descriptions, he had attracted the attention of many foreign things, some things that Illia had only heard stories of or had never been told of before.

Now, standing before her was a blue-skinned boy who had also been attracted to Link, though, by means that she did not know of. Perhaps he was an old acquaintance of the hero, or perhaps a complete stranger. Either way, if what Morbex had to tell Link was truly very important, it was a shame that the man was not present. "Um...what about?" she then asked, though she regretted those words as soon as she let them slip into the air. Who was she to ask for a message destined for Link?

As though these thoughts were running through Morbex's mind as well, he merely looked at her but, to her surprise, his face showed utmost hesitation, as though he were leaning towards telling her his news. As he parted his lips to speak, a small amount of expectancy appeared inside of Illia.

"Please, continue with taking me to the mayor," he said, "and I'll explain there."

Illia was not all too surprised at his skirting around her inquiry. Presumably, whatever it was that the boy had to inform Link about must be important if he did not wish to disclose it to her at the time. Nodding in respect to his request, she turned and made her way towards the door, placing the picture of Link upon a taller bookcase that stood by the doorway.

When the two had exited the house, Morbex blinked and shaded his eyes from the sun. He did not notice Illia descend another ladder off of the platform that the house stood on and so he nearly stumbled and fell off of it. Quickly he caught himself, however was forced to jump off of the porch due to his lack of balance. His knees shook when he landed.

Gathering himself to his feet, he trailed after Illia as she approached the dirt path that led into her home village. When they had arrived in the main area of the community, standing beneath the gateway, Morbex had to pause, surprised that such a place could be so peaceful despite what he knew to be happening. Nevertheless, he breathed a sigh of relief; Malbex's corrupted hands had not yet stretched to this place yet.

Or had they?

As Morbex followed Illia to the mayor's household, he cast a sidelong glance at her. She still appeared to be somewhat distraught that Link had abruptly left the village and, shortly, Morbex wondered if his diabolical sibling was the cause. If that were true, then perhaps the village was not as peaceful as it appeared to be.

He turned his eyes away from the girl to look towards the town's stream, its sparkling body being churned and ferried into a larger body of water nearby by a wooden water mill. The sounds of laughter and shouting that came from there had attracted his attention and when he looked he saw that the noises were coming from a small group of children as they splashed around in the waterway.

Three of the children were standing in the water, their pants rolled up to their knees, while the fourth, a much smaller boy, was watching them by the bank, his green eyes only blinking when a stray water droplet came towards him. Beside him was a baby, clapping her hands and giggling as the children before her laughed.

One of the boys in the stream, having jawline-length blond hair and blue eyes, had turned towards the giggling baby and proceeded to flick bits of water at her; the girl continued with her giggling fit and then reached forward and dunked her tiny hands into the water. She then drew them out and held them above her head, causing water to splash all over the boy's face.

"Hey!" But he laughed and began to tickle the girl, causing her to laugh even harder.

_Children..._

Morbex turned away, wishing that he could be as carefree as them all the time. How wondrous it would be to be unaware of all the danger in the world, to be able to continue living without the slightest idea of what kinds of horrible things lingered just outside of their home. The kinds of horrible corruption and deceit...

"Illia!"

Morbex was drawn out of his melancholic thoughts at the sound of the boy's voice. He looked up with the young Ordonian beside him, searching the small group of children for the person who had called her name. The boy that had called had taken a step out of the stream and was waving—it was the blond boy.

"Hi, Colin!" Illia greeted and Morbex was taken aback at her sudden cheerful behavior.

"Who's that with you?" Colin called, but before Illia could answer, he had already started guessing. "Oh, hey, that's the boy we found!"

"I'm taking him to see the mayor," Illia explained just as the other children looked up at her and their guest. "You all can come and meet him after, okay?"

"'Kay," Colin replied, waving to them again before turning back to his splashing friends.

As soon as the boy had turned around, a glimmer of sadness reappeared in Illia's eyes. Wordlessly, she continued to lead Morbex towards her house, crossing one of the bridges that was laid out over the stream as they did so. When they had reached the house, Illia opened the door and stepped inside and Morbex followed suit. When he was inside, she shut the door and, once their eyes had adjusted to the dimmer lighting of the household, the two spotted the village's mayor seated at his desk.

It did not appear as though he were doing anything, other than rubbing one of his temples while staring at the surface of his working space. Unlike most days, it was clear, having only its essentials spread out across it: a quill, a bottle of ink and a neat pile of blank sheets of parchment. When his small ears heard the sound of his front door opening, his beady eyes looked up to see who had entered. His eyes seemed to glaze over his daughter and rested upon Morbex and, recognizing him, he sat up in his seat and held a hand out to a chair located off to the side of his table.

Morbex obliged to the silent offer and took the seat, while Illia approached the bed in the corner of the room and placed herself upon it, somewhat sinking in to its mattress.

Morbex ignored the feeling of being a criminal preparing for a trial and chose to start the future conversation. "Thank you for helping me, Sir," he started in a way that easily hid his discomfort. "If you all had not helped me...I don't know what would've happened."

Bo gave a grunt that sounded like a 'you're welcome', causing Morbex to try and make himself more comfortable in his chair in order to hide the discomfort that he felt growing in his gut. As he was doing this, Bo had directed his attention to his daughter. "Ah...Illia," he said and she locked her courtesy on him. "I'd like it if...if you could let us be alone for now," her father continued, never taking his eyes off of her.

At first Illia wanted to argue that she should remain where she was, but she wound up deciding against it. Having such a feud would be pointless and would most likely result in unfavorable happenings for her. She pushed herself off the bed and made her way towards the door, her bare feet patting softly against the lumpy wooden floor. After she had shut the door behind her, sealing her father and Morbex in their house's foyer, Bo redirected his eyes towards the youth.

"Well, if my daughter hadn't told you yet," he began, his voice straining as he tried to make it sound carefree, "I'm the Mayor of Ordon; but you can just call me Bo." Morbex did not answer and so the man chose to continue with, "What's your name?"

"Morbex Zenor." Then, before he could be asked another question, he began to explain a little about his background, saying the same things he had said to Illia.

"'Eldonis', huh?" Bo repeated the name of the boy's country while rubbing his chin. "Never heard o' that place before."

"I don't blame you," Morbex said. "We're not very social with other countries."

"Oh? So how do you...do you trade and things like that?"

"...We're not completely isolated," was the cursed boy's response. "We only speak with countries when we have to. We make an effort to not be...too exposing of ourselves."

"Why's that?"

Morbex's lips curled up in a smile. "If I were to answer that, I'd be contradicting what I just said."

Bo's cheeks turned a pinkish tone and he cleared his throat before continuing. "Y-yeah, of course, of course." He then recomposed himself and rested his elbows upon his desk and then leaned forward while lacing his fingers together. "Another thing I wanted to ask you..." Morbex, noting the man's more serious expression, prepared himself for the next query, though part of him did not believe that bracing himself was needed, for he had an idea of what the man would soon be asking him. "When we found you, one of the villagers said that she saw you 'appear in the sky and then fall to the ground'. That true?"

Morbex did not give an instant answer, as his mind was preoccupied with trying to remember how exactly he had arrived in this village. Once recalling the incident, he nodded. "Well, her being on the ground when I came, I guess her description would be accurate."

Bo frowned. "How?"

Judging by his questions, Morbex guessed that he and the other villagers were not used to seeing acts of magic. In reply, he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the napkin. He then got out of his seat and placed it on Bo's desk before proceeding with untying it. After he undid the knot, Morbex flattened the handkerchief out on the surface of the table, allowing the clear stones of rubble to be released from their previous space of closeness.

"This." He lightly gestured to the stones as Bo reached forward and picked one up, holding it in his large palm and rubbing it with one of his fingers. He then replaced the stone back in the pile, though still kept his eyes firmly set upon it.

"What is it?"

"Something that my people invented," Morbex informed the mayor, remaining in his position in front of the man's desk. "It's a transporter of sorts—the user just has to clearly picture where they want to go and the stone will take them there."

Bo eyed the rubble suspiciously. "And it broke?"

"Yes..." Morbex began to re-wrap the debris, careful to make sure that every last stone remained upon the blue cloth as he did so. "Honestly, I don't even understand why it happened. Perhaps it was made in the wrong way..." He trailed off, realizing that Bo's gaze was upon him now. The light that fell through the windows of the house gave his face a complimentary cast of various shades, causing his visage to look fairly threatening. Morbex's red eyes narrowed right back at him.

"You wanted to come here?" the man asked in a quiet voice, causing Morbex to have to pause and decipher the man's mumble as a form of communication.

"No," he stated simply. "I had other plans. But...I didn't have enough strength to make it to where I actually wanted to go. Because of that, I guess the Grell backtracked, intending to take me to where I came from, but, again, me being too weak, it could only drop me off here."

"'Grell'?"

"That's what it's called."

"...Where were you plannin' on headin'?"

Morbex took a couple of retreating steps until one of his heels bumped into the leg of the chair that he had been seated in before. Briefly looking over his shoulder to make sure that he did not miss it, he replaced himself in the seat, all the while saying to Bo, "That is...something that I'm not sure you want to be worried about."

At this, Bo faltered, taken aback by the fact that a child was telling him what to and not to worry about. He could not deny that that information caused a spark of anger to appear in him, however he quickly diminished it, knowing that he should not lose his temper over something so trivial.

Morbex noticed the man's befuddled expression, though he could find nothing at all to be confused about. A split second later he realized that the man was not jumbled but rather flustered. Of what, Morbex could not identify and thus, to take the man out of his embarrassed state, he chose to carry on with the conversation.

"But it is something that I wanted to tell someone," he added to his previous thought. "Someone that lives in this village...or, rather lived." He waited for Bo's response.

The old man tried to make sense of Morbex's sudden correcting of himself until he came up with a small idea of why. "Are you...talkin' 'bout Link?"

Morbex nodded.

"What'd you need from him?"

"I have to tell him of the danger that he is in," Morbex informed the mayor. "So much danger in fact that...it may cause you to shift with unease." Bo did not answer but rather dropped his eyes from Morbex's unemotional face to the spot where his Grell had been positioned in only moments ago. After organizing his thoughts, he looked back to the foreigner.

"What kind of danger is he in?" Morbex's reply made Bo's heart nearly stop.

"Life-threatening."

The old man wrinkled his brow with deep worry and his mouth slightly dropped, though it was invisible as the lower half of his face was still hidden behind his laced hands. His heart pounding in fear for the young adult, he swallowed.

"...He didn't tell you where he went, did he?" Morbex continued and Bo shook his head. Morbex then paused in thought before he went on. "Your daughter said that he left on short notice, too..." His sentence sounded more like a statement, however Bo nodded to it anyway.

"The night he left Illia came chargin' back in here, lookin' upset and said that he had just left the village," he informed the imp, remembering the night with a distant expression, as though he were still trying to figure out Link's reasons for departing. "I went out to see if I could catch him, but by the time I'd reached the nearby forest it was too late. I could see him ridin' his mare across the bridge like there was no tomorrow—there was no way I coulda caught him."

Then, without warning, Morbex got out of his seat, replacing the napkin of his shattered Grell in the pocket of his jacket. Again he was wondering if Link's abrupt departure were linked to Malbex's plot. Could he possibly have already been warned of the man's plan and then chosen to leave so as to not draw attention to his villagers? If that were true, then Link's choice was a wise one. Yet, Morbex knew that he could not allow himself to settle upon that mere assumption, for he could indeed be wrong. No matter the circumstance, he had to find Link and tell him what he knew.

"I will find him for you," he said, "I...cannot stay here in any case."

Bo raised his eyebrows, further wrinkling his forehead. "Why's that?"

"Because, I..." He stopped himself, not wanting to tell the man that there was a possibility that he would draw his powerful and sinister brother towards this peaceful and innocent community. Instead, he settled for, "I'm wanted." Bo's once squinting eyes opened in shock, revealing his dull blue irises as his mind raced to drink in what Morbex had just said.

"Wanted?" he repeated, his voice overflowing with astonishment.

Morbex then decided to add to that comment, for he realized that it sounded a bit peculiar, "By the same person that is after Link. And he is strong—I would not want my presence here to wind up being the death of you and your people."

Bo blinked, his eyes unyielding in returning to their squinting positions. If what Morbex was stating was the truth, Bo would gladly let him leave the village. He had already suffered the loss of the village children once, but that was during a time when he would be able to get them back. Would he be able to stand if they were to be killed on Morbex's behalf?

But at the same time, if he were to get rid of the guest for the benefit of the villagers, he would most likely be condemning the boy to an early death. Sending him alone out into the fields of Hyrule would be dangerous; the lands were infested with grotesque creatures that would swipe the chance of taking the boy's life. Not only was the field filled with familiar monsters such as bokoblins and kargaroks, but also a new monster that had recently appeared, by far outmatching the rest.

He had heard this news from Fado, when the man had gone on his weekly voyage of delivering goat milk to the capital of Hyrule. When he was returning, the rancher stated that he had seen a small group of black beings, standing as tall as a human though the black mist that coiled around them hid their features.

He had seen these creatures in the act of killing a team of bokoblins, their clubs on the ground, forsaken, and each of their rail-thin necks being held in the hands of one of the monsters that had surrounded them. Struggling and wailing for air, the Hyrulean monsters were unable to stand a chance and, once all air had been closed off from their lungs, their bodies became limp. Their corpses were then tossed upon the ground and the Shadows had turned away from them, the mist that floated in their wake brushing against the bony cheeks of the fallen beasts.

Such powerful monsters they were, Bo had thought, and he could not imagine sending—or even allowing—Morbex to venture into a field that harbored things like them. As he closed his eyes in thought, he could imagine the poor boy being dangled in the air, the life seeping out of his eyes as he was strangled to death. Just thinking of it made the village mayor sink in his chair with guilt and, for the first time in a long while, he was unsure of what he should do.

One life for many, or many for one life...

He opened his eyes again and peered at Morbex's resolute expression with the pained one that he knew was on his own face. Then, he reminded himself of how long the boy had been here, sleeping in Link's bed without anything unfortunate happening at all. If the boy were wanted, would something not have happened already? He voiced these thoughts to the small boy and, with a bit more confidence than before, claimed that he should stay.

Of course, Morbex tried to deny it—his actions of rebelling reminded him of his daughter. Having had to already deal with and raise such a child, Bo easily won the argument, stating that Morbex would remain in Ordon. If he were right, all he had to do was try and keep the boy out of sight of the person that wanted to kidnap him. Ordona Province being a very reclusive area, that task would be an easy one.

Finally Morbex relented, unable to come up with anything that could contradict what Bo was saying. He was right: if Malbex had wanted him, he would have come for him by now. Perhaps the man's plans had changed. But thinking such a thought did not ease Morbex at all. If the man's plans had changed, he doubted that it was for the better.

If the man's plans had changed, Morbex was not sure if he even wanted to know why.

After departing the mayor's household, he stood in the center of the dirt road just beside the front door's incline, staring up at the hills that surrounding the entire community. These hills would not keep his brother from finding him. But if they were not, then what was?

Was he even looking?

Even so, Morbex decided to take this time of being disregarded and use it to his advantage. He was here, in the village that Link lived in. There was no way that Link would not return to the village at some point. And whenever he did, Morbex would be here.

He would wait.


	44. Chapter 43

**Chapter Forty-Three**

Zelda's heels clicked lightly against the polished, marble floors of Hyrule Castle. The long braid that she had draped over her shoulder swayed back and forth lightly with each quickly paced step that she took and her three-layered, slim gown lightly billowed in her wake.

With an impassive expression the princess ambled down the corridor, towards the open archway at the other end. Having just completed another drawn-out meeting with the High Council, she was more than happy to be able to find a place to ease her mind.

Every morning, at around ten o' clock, Zelda would make her way towards the Council Chambers for a meeting with them. As of late they had been informing their princess of affairs that had been occurring within the country that she ruled, such as sightings of black monsters out in the fields and mysterious Holes in the ground.

Zelda had first heard of these monster sightings earlier that month, though the idea of them was not an entirely large threat at the time. From what she had heard from Markus, the Minister of State Affairs, they mostly kept to themselves. However, their presence was disturbing many Hyruleans and some even complained that because of their being in the country, their work was hindered.

However, there was a benefit to having these black creatures roaming about, Markus had added. They had a strange habit of killing other monsters that they came across, leaving the cold corpses of their prey to rot in the plains of Hyrule. The annoyance of other small-threat creatures would probably be diminished should these black creatures still maintain their right to roam.

And yet, it was not until a week after this report were these new creatures finally dubbed as a threat.

There had been a few sightings of humans lying out in the fields, their skin pale and their eyes wide with finger marks across their necks. This was the same way that monsters who were killed by the new beasts were found, Zelda was told, and so it could be concluded that these new beings were not to be taken lightly. Unfortunately, a way to avoid them had yet to have been found, due to the fact that those who ran in to one of those beasts were usually found dead.

Upon hearing this, Zelda recalled the first postman that had worked for Hyrule and how his body had been found by Link, presumably during the same week she had sent him out to retrieve the Ordonian. A few days after he had been found dead, Zelda had found another man to replace him—yet, unfortunately, this second postman had also been killed in the same way as the first.

Thus, Zelda concluded that these beasts were possibly the same ones that the postman had described to her just before his death. They definitely fit the appearance description he had given—"as dark as dark can be"—and, as they had yet to have been heard before striking, they were also as "silent as the night", just as he had said.

The Hole sightings were just as troubling for Zelda to hear. Unlike the new monsters—whom the Council had named "Demonics"—these had been classified as threats from the very first time they had been mentioned. According to sources, the Holes were unpredictable in their appearances and caused the ground to crumble in on itself and create a bottomless abyss in the earth. Some monsters had been spotted falling into these anonymous Holes and, out of all of the reports on these imperfections in the earth, Zelda only heard of one where a human had actually fallen into one.

Presently, the princess exited the hall she had been sauntering through and emerged upon one of the bridges that was built over one of the castle's many courtyards. Here, she ceased her walking and approached one of the glassless windows and leaned upon its sill, wondering why ruling a country like Hyrule had to be so difficult. Or perhaps she was not the only ruler going through these sorts of problems—perhaps other countries were also suffering from Demonics and Holes.

And if other rulers were dealing with these sort of issues, the number of them was probably few.

Zelda had received information from both her first and second postmen about how some of the countries that surrounded Hyrule were presently leaderless. Their leaders had been killed under mysterious circumstances and had been found with strange finger marks layered across their necks. Just as those that the Demonics had killed, their skin was also pale and their eyes were wide open, implying that the person must have been killed before they could react. What Zelda found most troubling about the situation was that the now corrupted form of government in those leaderless countries could lead to an age of chaos amongst the people. They would not last long without the steady hand of a chosen ruler to guide them.

As she thought of this, the princess wrapped her arms around herself and leaned away from the window. Could it be possible that she was the next victim? What would happen if she were murdered? What would her people do? Who would replace her?

Though, despite her worries, Zelda did not want to come across as panicked if she suddenly chose someone to be her successor. Or would that seem like a panicked action? In a time like this, Zelda could not hesitate to make a decision that was best for her people. She could not deny to choose someone as an heir just because she did not want people to think that she was frightened. Such a thought was selfish, she reasoned.

And yet, there was no one that she could pick to fill this position. An option could be a high-ranking soldier, but lately her officers had been acting odd and flustered around her. Whenever they spotted her approaching, they would cut their conversation short and wait until she was out of their sight before speaking again.

During one of these encounters, Zelda decided to turn a corner that she knew she did not need to take and had tried to hear what it was that the soldiers did not want to say in her presence. Unfortunately however, the officers had not restarted their conversation, even if Zelda was no longer within their view; it was almost as though they were aware that she was still nearby, watching and listening. Nevertheless, her trust for them continued to secede every time she saw them speaking in hushed voices with one another.

Fortunately, Zelda did believe that every single one of her soldiers was untrustworthy. These soldiers that she knew were still loyal to her were the ones that even shared her discomfort when around the other officers and sometimes they even brought these concerns directly to her. The princess felt more secure in her suspicions when these officers spoke with her and they with theirs.

In fact, a couple weeks before, one of the Captains had found Zelda on her way to one of the castle's larger courtyards. There he introduced something to the Hyrulean princess that greatly substantiated her thoughts on the other officers: according to him, some of the officers had been conversing to one another about someone named Malbex. He had tried to join in with the conversation, however he had wound up swallowing the bitter taste of failure; even so, he had decided that telling the princess was the best thing to do.

After being told this, Zelda had made her way towards her study and searched for the records that she had ordered to be made on the Ruheart trial. Her fingers leafing through the stacks of paper and files piled into her drawers and shelves, she wondered if the woman's offense was linked to the soldiers' odd behavior.

After a long while of searching, Zelda's fingers had closed around the pile of papers that were drowned with every detail of the Ruheart trial. With the records in hand, Zelda began to search through them, hoping to find some clues about a conspiracy or some sort of small plot that the soldiers were planning against her. But, to her dismay, she found no such hint in these documents.

Now, Zelda removed her arms from her waist and placed her hands upon the sill of the window before her. Her dark blue eyes slowly scaled the walls of the castle that were across from her, stopping on the gray and jumbled clouds and watching as they blew gradually across the sky, their appearance growing darker and darker along with their threat of downing pools of rainwater upon the capital of her country; somewhere in the distance there came a distant rumble of thunder.

And as Zelda gazed up at this dreary scene, the dread and sadness within her began to bubble and grow, filling almost every fiber of her being. Lately she had been feeling so tired and worn, unable to think of a way to rid herself of her stress.

She could not simply remove the suspicious soldiers from their posts—she had no practical evidence to show that they were participating in offensive actions against her. And she could not demand in a loud voice that all of the Demonics and Holes in her country vanish on the spot—though, she had wished more than once that she could do so; such an action would greatly relieve her. The stress of ruling a country should not be placed upon the back of a single woman as young as she was.

Zelda drew a hand to her face and closed her slim fingers around the bridge of her nose, bowing her head. Her eyelids fell shut, obscuring her vision with darkness, and in this blackness she wrapped herself in a blanket of solitude. Perhaps if she shut away the entire world, perhaps if she created a place where only she could dwell, where only she had a say in what went wrong, perhaps then everything would begin to lift. Perhaps then everything would become lighter and brighter.

Maybe there she could relax...

But instead of relaxing, Zelda's mind traced back to when this all began, wondering if perhaps there would have been a way for her to stop these new, disturbing events from happening. But she could remember no point in time where she could have made a better decision.

Then her mind's eye gave her the sight of the dimly lit room of the castle town's bar. It was there that she had made a rather large choice by calling for a simple shepherd boy to leave the country in order to retrieve a group of citizens.

Though, Link was not a goat-herder in her eyes: he was a powerful young man, capable of much more than one would think. Calling for his help was a smart choice, she reckoned, but at the same time she wondered if she should have left him out of it.

She shook her head; he had been sent out to retrieve Telma and her company before they got involved with the affairs of the split Triforce piece. Link having been able to draw the Master Sword, Zelda instantly knew that he was the hero that the legends of Hyrule constantly spoke about. He was fit for the job of keeping Telma and her friends out of situations that they should not be getting involved in.

But she had sent him out for that job almost two months ago and, as far as she knew, there had been no sign of those Hyrulean citizens anywhere.

And, knowing that she could not travel out of castle town in order to search for Link, Telma and the others to ensure their safety, she had ordered one of her most trusted captains to do the job.

Zelda could remember it clearly: she had been standing here, in this exact spot, staring out of the windows as though longing she could leap out of it, sprout wings and fly away from all of her troubles. But the sound of metal footsteps drawing near had interrupted her feeble attempt at peace. She had turned her head in the direction of the approaching soldier, her eyes narrowing when she saw him.

Even from where she stood, on the opposite end of the long bridge, she had clearly recognized him: Lieutenant Arnold. A fair-skinned man with a sharp nose and slim eyes, he was one of the first people that Zelda had been suspicious of. As he sauntered down the corridor, a hand lightly rested upon the hilt of the sword he wore on his armored side, she turned her entire body to face him, the sound of her clicking heels drawing his attention.

To her disgust, the man had actually chosen to give her a smile. "Good afternoon, Your Highness," he greeted.

"In kind," Zelda responded, allowing her once stern gaze to vanish from her look. Without another word, the soldier had continued on his way and, just as he took a few steps passed her, she whipped around to face him, her dress swiveling as she moved. "Ah, Lieutenant," she called and he paused, almost worriedly, before he turned to look at her, raising his eyebrows in anticipation for her next words.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Do you know where Captain Inkert is?"

"He was down in the barracks this morning, last I saw him, Princess," Arnold replied, his tone respectful. "But I'm not sure if he's still there."

Zelda had nodded to him and thanked him for his reply before she had turned and made her way down the rest of the bridge, the sounds of his feet padding upon the rug of a connecting corridor dying behind her.

Captain Inkert: that was his title. Regal Inkert: that was his name.

He was someone that Zelda wanted to keep close to her in order to protect him from the corruption that seemed to infest itself in nearly every officer on the castle grounds. Indeed, the thought of Inkert betraying her sent shivers traveling down her back; she did not want to know how things would end up should something like that happen. Being a captain, he had a fair amount of influence amongst the other soldiers.

Zelda recalled how long it had taken her to find the man, hustling down the halls in her heeled shoes, wishing that she had worn her favorite pair of boots instead. When she had found him he had been helping with supervising those that were intending to join the Hyrulean army. Spotting him amongst the line of head officers by the edge of the training room, she had approached him and, placing a hand on his shoulder, asked that she speak with him in a separate room.

To her satisfaction, he had obliged and followed her into the adjoining room of training weapons, shutting the door behind them. It was there she had asked that he search the lands of Hyrule for Link. Though, as soon as she had let the request slip out of her mouth, she suddenly felt guilt-ridden. Sending one of her captains out into the lands of Hyrule while there were Demonics about was a rather heartless idea.

But she allowed her more confident self to remind her that the captain was skillful: he would know how to avoid the Demonics if he came across one. Thus, hiding this emotion from her face by covering it with an indiscernible expression, she had waited for the captain's reply.

To her expectancy, he had consented.

Though, he had finished with his supervising of the soldier trainees before preparing for his search. He had instantly remembered the Ordonian's face when Zelda had said Link's name, specifically recalling seeing him at the Celebration the previous year.

Glad that he knew what to look for, Zelda had watched him leave from one of the windows of one of the castle's towers, silently praying that the goddesses would keep him safe and, again, feeling a sudden guilt consume her. Unable to watch Inkert ride off of the castle grounds any longer, she had removed herself from the window. Now, she wondered if the captain were still alive—she had not heard from him since that day.

Zelda allowed her eyes to open, and when they did they were utterly filled with pain and sadness. There was no way it would ever happen: there was no way she would ever be relieved of the stressful moments of her life. There was nothing that she could do that could release her—nothing that anyone could do.

The day had continued to clock by as any other day and, when she had been given a late afternoon break from her duties as leader of Hyrule, Zelda had made her way down the many corridors of the castle, intending to walk into one of the many courtyards that she owned.

As she ventured through a hall lined with tall windows on either side, there came a faint hissing sound, growing louder and louder in volume until it became like the sound of pebbles being hurtled against the window panes. Curiously, Zelda looked to the windows beside her, seeing the droplets of water clinging to its glass.

Behind the curtain of water that covered her view of outside, the environment was dark and cold—if one were smart, they would not venture outside of their homes during such a time. Slightly frustrated, Zelda knew that nature's sudden thought of wetting the land had forced her to halt her plans and possibly push them to a different date.

In the city below, pools of rain spilled from the heavy black clouds above, washing through the ground in a thorough manner and turning it into complete muck. The streets of the normally busy city were empty and dim lantern lights were visible through curtained or half-closed windows in the many houses. The rain splattered upon the pavement of the lifeless streets, pounded into the gutters of houses and slammed its watery hands against the sides of the homes, all the while deep bellowing sounding from somewhere within the bowels of the clouds that the water fell from.

This storm was no less merciful upon the castle grounds. There, trees' thin branches hung limp in the cold rain as though they were bending down to drink up the excess water that collected above their soil. The once soft grass of the land had been converted into muddy terrain, large puddles forming in random places upon the plain.

Above the faint hiss of precipitation came the sounds of torches crackling beneath the archways that surrounded the Hyrulean mansion, their lights barely able to bleed more than fifteen feet away from the stone entryways that they stood beneath. The soldiers on duty near these light sources stayed close by them for warmth, silently mocking the soldiers that had been appointed to patrol the wet castle grounds.

Then, suddenly, a distant shout carried across the large yard, half-drowned beneath a vehement roll of thunder but capable of being heard anyway: "_Intruders_!"

Feet slipped and sloshed through the mud in the direction of the cry, the owners of said feet having their lances at the ready in case they were needed to fight. The men who had been within range of the shout found themselves speeding towards the front gates of the castle, which were closed and locked. This being so, it could only be concluded that the intruders may have climbed over the wall of the gates, only to be caught by the guards standing nearby.

The officers surrounded the pair of trespassers, lances pointing forward and their knees bent in battle-ready positions. There was one male and one female, though, more attention was locked upon the male:

Link.

"Look what we have here," one of the soldiers sneered. "You came right to us." He was Barggory, a soldier that had been posted to patrol the northwestern side of Hyrule castle. He pushed his lance forward threateningly, poking a hole straight through a seam near the hem of the green tunic that Link was wearing. The Ordonian's lips curled upward in a scornful look and he pushed the lance away with the back of his hand. The soldiers merely took another step forward, completely stealing away any space that the couple could use to try and escape. However, neither of the pair seemed upset at this fact—they seemed amazingly calm.

The woman beside Link, with long, black hair plastered to her skull and neck and clinging to her wet, white jacket, narrowed her eyes and looked to each of the helmeted soldiers that surrounded her and the Hyrulean, her expression showing neither fear nor rage.

"Now come quietly," Barggory continued, never removing his lance from the spot where it was: jabbing Link's arm, "and you won't get hurt." Behind the slits of his helmet he glanced to the woman, for he thought that he had seen her move to try and escape the confined area that she was in.

But she had not tried to escape: rather, she had turned her head towards him, pinpointing him with her dagger-like stare. Then, before the eyes of the soldiers, a silver, almost white color spilled from the roots of her wet hair like water and seeped down to the ends. Her dampened curls fell completely flat, causing her light locks of hair to frame her pale white face. And then her dark irises began to brighten, becoming a blazing red that bore into the slits of the soldiers' helmets like a piercing red light.

Barggory's grip on his lance lessened and his mouth fell open in explicit stupor. "L-Lady Alexandria!" he stammered and the soldiers looked at him, stunned, before turning back to the escaped convict from so long ago. Even though they had joined with her by bribe of the same man that gave her instructions, they were not prepared to see her face-to-face and have to look at her as an ally.

The soldiers then fell back, forming two awkward lines on either side of the pair. As they did so, Alexandria's eyes darkened and this time the dark brown color that she had before fell from the roots of her hair. The curls returned, only to be wet once again by the unending downpour of rain. When her transformation was complete, she began to tread upon the moisturized, stone pathway silently, Link falling into step with her.

She heard one of the soldiers ask another man beside him why Alexandria was with Link and the other bartered that she had captured him herself. Alexandria turned to them and they jumped, falling silent.

"It's not him," she said, her tone cold.

"Then...who is he?" was one of the soldier's next questions.

"An ally," the woman answered curtly, flipping her black hair over her shoulder. "But he's not important." She heard Link scoff. "By order of Malbex, you are all to follow my orders." The officers briskly nodded and stood stiffly, waiting to see if she should say more.

And she did.

"Take us to the Princess."


	45. Chapter 44

**Chapter Forty-Four**

A tingle ran up Link's arm, its source being his left hand, and he curled the fingers of this hand into his palm and squeezed, ceasing the chilling feeling. With his brow furrowed he dropped his eyes from the face of the Goron and let his gaze slide across the rocky chamber and towards the doorway of the mines.

Subtly, he flicked his eyes towards his comrades: like him, they appeared troubled by the information that they had just been given. Out of the side of his eye he caught Katrina give him a scornful, but short, glare. Instantly he realized that she probably believed that he had been the one to summon the Shadows to the mines.

His eyes then grew distant in thought as his memories drew him back to the time he had told his companions the locations of the three remaining shards. There was a possibility that their conversation had been overheard by an unknown being, just as what had occurred while he was speaking with Dijonay in her carriage so long ago.

Although Link had been aware of the chances of being eavesdropped upon, he had given his allies the knowledge that they wanted—and needed—in any case. That being so, was it his fault that the Shadows were in the mines?

He brushed this thought to the back of his mind, not exactly sure if he should suddenly hold himself responsible. If it were not his fault, then he might be able to conclude that the Shadows had just wandered into the mines by coincidence—after all, why would they go to the Triforce shard when they were well aware that merely being within range of its light would send them screaming in the opposite direction?

The way Link saw it was that they were either stupid or they had a plan—but in all truth, he was hoping more for the former. Yet, even if they did have a plan, he could not back away and let them retrieve the shard for whomever they were working for.

"We're searching for something that's in your mines," Link started to explain to the Goron, attracting the creature's purple eyes. "Something important—those things that you said are in your mines, I think, might be after it, too."

"...Are you asking to go into the mines, Brother?" the Goron summarized and, without hesitation, Link nodded. The rock-eating beast did not say anything more for a moment, regarding everyone with a violet stare of contemplation.

He then stepped aside, as he had previously been blocking the entryway of the cave, and he gestured to a specific Goron that was speaking to one of the tribe's elders. He was easily viewed as the largest of the mountain dwellers, with his lips curled back to reveal his always clenched teeth and a large forehead that slightly shadowed his round, blue-violet eyes. Judging by how his brow was creased as he spoke, he was in a deep and serious conversation with the elder.

"You should speak with our patriarch then," the Goron stated. "I have no right to say who can and who can't go into our mines."

Wordlessly, Link and his company filed out of the elevator room, treading slowly towards Darbus, the Goron patriarch. The uneasiness that flowed off of Link's allies hung in the air around them as they took advancing steps towards the large rock eater and with every forward movement they felt as if they were shrinking in size.

The words of the two Goron leaders drifted to their ears when they had closed the distance between themselves and the mountain dwellers, their voices deep and low: "...spotted everywhere, even in the fields," the elder was saying and Link recognized him as Gor Coron, the oldest member of the tribe and the same person who had informed him of the problems they were having with the mines a year previous. His arms were folded over his chest and his back was to the forward-moving party. "They're dangerous, you know that."

"I understand," Darbus replied, his voice rumbling in his chest as it fell to the ears of the elder. "But what can I do? I tried to fight them—you saw how I turned out."

"Yes, I..." But then Gor Coron stopped himself, for he had spotted Link in his peripheral vision. He cast a brief glance to Darbus, the look stating that they would finish their conversation later, before he turned to recognize their visitor.

"Welcome, Link," he greeted, his calm visage showing that he was not at all fazed by Link's sudden arrival. "And others," he added, seeing that the Hyrulean was not alone. "What is it that brings you into our domain again?" Although his voice was friendly, there was still a hint of seriousness in his tone.

"We heard about what's going on in your mines," Link started, stepping forward, and he disregarded the spark of interest that lit in the elder's eyes. "There's something in your mines that we're looking for, and we think that those Shadows are looking for it, too. We need to get to it before they do." Gor Coron and Darbus exchanged looks.

"You want to get into the mines, then?" Darbus asked, his eyes glazing over the group. Those that were with Link were not sure if he was glaring at them with disapproval or if he was just examining them, sizing them up and pitting them against the Shadows in his mind.

"That's right," Link answered, nodding, and then he dropped his eyes to the elder. "We've faced those Shadows before and we know how to beat them." He then hesitated before he went on, recalling how the Gorons were a proud people, not wanting to ask for or receive help from anyone if they could avoid it. "We can help you."

He noticed that both Darbus and Gor Coron were not quick to accept his offer, but he had been expecting this. Rather, they had looked at each other again before returning their eyes to the group of humans. Gor Coron let his arms fall by his sides and made to speak, but stopped, and so Darbus addressed their visitors instead.

"Are you sure that these are the same beasts you have faced before?" he asked skeptically. "I myself have faced them and...failed." He almost choked on the word, as if it was not normally used in the Gorons' vocabulary. "They are powerful, but small—silent and deadly. Luck was on my side when a lava geyser erupted nearby, granting me a chance to escape..." The glow of reminiscing left the patriarch's eyes then and he looked back to the party, his face still locked in its average appearance of grimness. "If you were to go into the mines and face those creatures, we cannot ensure that you will return alive—I was lucky. The same thing may not happen to you."

"We're sure that these monsters are the same that we're thinking of," Link returned firmly, his eyes never breaking contact with the eyes of the patriarch. "They stood like humans and were covered in black cloaks and floated on misty clouds, right?"

Something flickered in Darbus' gaze and, after a brief second of searching Link's face for something that was not there, he gave the smallest of nods.

Receiving this reply, Link let his eyes fall to Gor Coron and he began to address him. "The Shadows aren't vulnerable to strength, as you might've already guessed. They're weak to light."

"Extremely," Brent added, stressing the word, "bright light."

"They run as soon as they see it," Mekial piped up and his voice fell to a small squeak when the two large Gorons stared at him.

"The...child is going with you?" Gor Coron inquired, looking to the older members of the party.

"Yes," Link responded, and the heads of the others nodded in agreement with him. "In fact, he's the one that can use the light that can send those Shadows running."

_At will, anyway,_ he added in his thoughts.

"I see..." Gor Coron cast another doubtful look to the young magician and then looked back at Link. "Well, if what you are saying is true, then we will allow you to go into our mines and rid them of those Shadows; obviously, we cannot do it ourselves."

Link's face betrayed surprise and Gor Coron caught it.

"We Gorons are proud, but we know when we need aid. We learned that last year." He paused, letting his words hang in the air, before he went on. "In exchange for helping, you can take whatever it is that you are looking for."

"In exchange?" Renée repeated, her eyebrows furrowing. The thin lips of the elder pulled upward in a smirk and he lifted his arms to fold them once more.

"Naturally, anything that is in our mines belongs to us, no matter what it is," he explained to the Arkanian and her mouth formed a silent 'oh' of understanding. "However, you are not going into the mines without someone to guide you to where the Shadows are."

"They're centered somewhere?" Link asked and the senior member of the tribe nodded.

"The Shadows are located in only one section of the mines," the Goron stated, shaking his head in aggravation. "Large black bugs that infest that cavern...not only is it grotesque to look at but the very place is the coldest of the entire mining area, almost as if all life has been sucked out of it. I'm guessing that the Shadows there are located near what you're looking for." Link nodded his understanding.

"So...we're getting a guide, you said?" Brent asked, leaning his staff against his shoulder. Without even acknowledging the young man's remark, the elder turned his head to the side and called for another Goron to join him. The Goron that he had called, one that looked smaller than the average-sized mountain dweller, as well as younger, responded to the senior's call immediately, shuffling towards him at a steady jog.

"Yes, Gor Coron?" he asked, his eyes having only flicked to the humans for a short second, as though the sight of them was something that he'd seen every day.

"I have a new job for you today, Darabius," Gor Coron started, and his once frowning lips pulled upward in a small smile as the younger Goron, Darabius, allowed his face to break into a wide grin.

"Really?"

The elder merely nodded. "And your duty today will be a very important one," he continued, "one that is not done on a daily basis."

"A special job, sir?" Darabius' grin got even bigger.

"Look here." Gor Coron nodded to the visitors and Darabius turned to face them, studying each of their faces and sealing their appearances in his mind. "This group of people wants to go to the site of the infestation." The young Goron's face cracked into a look of shock and the long line that formed his mouth fell open as he turned to stare at Gor Coron in disbelief. "Can you take them there?"

"The...the site of the...the..." Darabius' tongue was wrapped around itself, disabling his speech and keeping him from speaking his disturbed mind. Though, his babbling pronunciation did serve just as well.

Gor Coron, however, completely ignored the shock that had seized the soul of the rock eater, staring at him in a stoical manner as he waited for the boy to cease his speech. "I can choose someone else," he said after the creature had finally paused to take a breath. "And you can wait another few weeks before your first day of work—"

"No!" Darabius held up a hand and Gor Coron's brow lifted. Curling the fingers of his outstretched hand into his palm, Darabius swallowed before dropping the limb back to his side. "I mean...no. I-I will...I will take them."

Gor Coron nodded his approval, allowing the smallest of smiles to pass over his face. He then looked back to those that the boy would be escorting, saying, "Darabius here will take you to where the Shadows are. Stay by him; he knows the path better than you do. And it won't do him, nor you, any good if you were to stray off and get burned in a pool of lava."

Behind her, Dijonay heard Katrina mutter, in a tone blanketed with surprise and disbelief, "Lava...?"

"All right..." Darabius gave a curt nod to the party and then to the two Goron leaders before leading the humans towards the entryway of the mines, all the while his head hung low and his movement slow-paced. His band of followers kept close to him, though made to stand at a distance where the boy's foul mood would not rub off on them.

* * *

Of all of the members of the party, Katrina was the one to have the loudest reaction to the sight of the excavation area.

"What is this place?!" she had screamed, her jade eyes dilated as they stared at the pool of lava that had greeted the band when they had entered. The heat that rolled off of the hot basin crashed into all of them, causing sweat to quickly form on their brows and slither down their cheeks. Their hair clung to their necks and their clothes and weaponry felt even heavier than before.

"These are the mines," Darabius had answered her, expertly ignoring the look of horror she had given him then. Without waiting for anyone to say anything else, the Goron then proceeded to lead the group across a narrow pathway that ran across the lava pool.

Once on the other side he had continued to trek forward at an unchanging speed, the heat of the caverns unable to penetrate his thick skin, and he ambled through a Goron-made hole in the wall. The group filed in after him, trailing after the creature as he followed the straightaway path that the tunnel formed.

Moments later, the path widened and opened up into another cavern inside of the mountain, one that was littered with scattered ponds of lava. The ceiling of the cave was missing, allowing the heat of the room to rise and mix with the even, cool temperature that floated in the outdoor air and waves of steam coiled above the heads of the traveling band, distorting the images of the fluffy clouds.

Somewhere to the side of the room there was a magnetizing crane, one of the many that could be found throughout the mines. Normally, their heads were revolving around the rooms that they were in as they searched for stray pieces of metal to suck up, however this one was off, its head hung low as though it were depressed and its rusty metal staircase growing weary from its not being used.

Upon seeing it Brent had let out a small gasp of awe, his mind working to conceive a number of suggestions as to how the Gorons had come across the technology to create such machinery.

His curiosity getting the better of him, the Hylian crossed the room to approach the contraption, leaping out of the path of periodic geysers and carefully circling around the bodies of lava that he came across. Tapping his foot against the first metal stair to ensure that it was still intact, Brent ascended the steps, circling around the railing and finding himself looking down at the control panel of the machine.

Buttons and levers cluttered the face of the panel, their colors and shapes different judging by what they controlled. After allowing his eyes to drink in the sight of the controls, he stretched out a hand and pressed his palm into the largest red button that was there. As soon as the button had been pushed, the crane whirred to life, square dots that lined the panel blinking repeatedly and a visible current of electricity shot up the neck of the contraption.

Brent's jaw fell and his lips curled upward in a small smile when he saw the face of the crane begin to glow a soft blue, a shaft of light falling from its face and shimmering towards the ground. The blue-haired man then dropped his eyes back to the controls and pressed another button, this time causing the crane to move from side to side.

"So cool..."

"Brent!"

Brent shook himself out of his admiration for the machinery and made his way back towards the stairs at the sound of someone calling his name. When he had arrived, he realized that the person that had called him was Katrina, her hands on her hips and her pale skin having a red tint as it absorbed the amazing heat of the mines.

"What are you doing?"

"Just checking this thing out," Brent replied simply, hopping down the stairs to watch the crane's movement from a better point of view. "Pretty cool, huh?"

But Katrina did not show any sign of interest, much to Brent's dismay. "Darabius found another tunnel for us to go through—we need to go." She waved a hand at the crane the same way someone would dismiss someone from a room. "Turn that thing off, will you?" She cast a glance over her shoulder, peering through the waves of heat to see what the others were up to.

As she had stated before, Darabius had indeed found another tunnel, though, it was not another simple path: instead, it was a sloping hill, one that, according to him, dove into the depths of the mines and was even closer to where the site of the infestation was.

Without waiting for Brent, the Corvenian made her way back towards the others, joining with them just as Dijonay and Mekial disappeared into the hole in the wall.

Darabius, intending to go last, held a hand out towards the hole in the side of the rock wall, indicating that he wanted Katrina to descend before he did. Silently accepting the offer, the girl hunkered down and placed a hand on the roof of the hole, peering down into its darkness as she tried to see where it ended. To her disappointment, she could not see where the tunnel stopped and so, taking a bracing breath, she stuck her legs into the opening in the wall and pushed herself forward.

Wind swept her hair behind her and brushed against her sunburned face, cooling it down but also causing it to grow a bit more irritable. Ignoring the pain growing on her body as the air slipped through openings in her clothing, Katrina allowed herself to slide down the remainder of the tunnel, turning her head to the side to avoid jagged rocks and sometimes bumping over a lump in the circular passageway. As she continued to descend, she noticed a chilling drop in the temperature, though she did not pay much attention to it.

Finally, her momentum began to slow and the air that hugged her face died away to be replaced with an iciness that caused shivers to run up and down her spine. There was also a horrible stench in the air that burned her nostrils and made her want to retch.

Holding back a sneeze that wanted to be released because of the nipping cold and curling her numbing fingers into the fabric of her sleeves, Katrina crawled out of the hole, finding herself upon a tall ledge that overlooked a dark and cavernous chamber in the mountain. Unlike the previous rooms, there was no lava here at all, simply empty holes in the ground where small ponds of the magma had once been.

When she had completely crawled out of the hole, Katrina got to her feet, dusting off her backside, and she searched the ridge for her companions. In her side vision she spotted a natural foothold beside the rocky platform she was stationed on, one that led to a sturdy-looking route that dipped to the floor below.

Cautiously, Katrina placed her foot upon said toehold, tapping against it to ensure that it would hold all of her weight. Assured that it would, she pulled herself closer to the wall and began to descend the tiny ledge, hugging the boulder wall and keeping her eyes ahead, for the drop beneath her was devastatingly steep.

Upon lowering herself to the level below, Katrina spotted her comrades standing at the edge of another platform, none of them having acknowledged her arrival. Though, Katrina was not as concerned of this as she was of the looks upon their faces: trouble, disgust and horror... And she wondered: whatever could they be looking at?

Slowly, she approached them from behind, not surprised when none of them moved to show that they had noticed that she was there at all. And when she laid eyes upon what they had seen, she could see how something like it could keep someone's undivided attention.

Beneath the platform that the party was on, the floor of the colossal-sized cave was utterly covered in dead bodies: corpses of torch slugs and bulbins, the shattered remains of beamos and the mangled and almost unrecognizable carcasses of bokoblins and dodongos.

The sight heavily reminded her of what she had seen the night her home had been attacked and the smell only brought the memories flooding back to her with more strength, causing her knees to buckle and release, sending her towards the ground. She could feel all of the blood drain from her face and the low temperature seemed to gain more power over her, making her feel as cold as death.

And she could not look away.

A small whimper burbled from behind her trembling lips, unable to rise to a shriek but neither able to fall into silence. Slowly, she drew her hands to her face and covered her eyes, but the sight was burned onto the back of her eyelids, forever reminding her of the nightmarish terrors that she had seen and never wishing for her to forget.

Then she jumped, hearing a heavy foot fall behind her. Wanting nothing more than to turn away from the battlefield before her she whipped around, ignoring the pain that shot up her neck when she had done so. Standing behind her and the others was Darabius—she also noticed that Brent had arrived with him, his brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed.

"This is...what they have done," Darabius started, coming closer to the edge of the cliff. Link and the others parted for him and the young Goron stared down to the field with an empty expression. "Our patriarch almost wound up here. But I heard that a geyser had erupted and hurt the Shadow that was attacking him, and so he escaped."

"But it is...so cold here," Dijonay noted, hugging herself tighter in an attempt to keep herself warm. "How could a geyser...?"

"It was when they first arrived," Darabius replied quietly. "It was still warm. But then they started to increase in numbers and, before gathering against our patriarch, they attacked all of the monsters in the room and...our patriarch said that they seemed to become..._stronger_."

"They got stronger from killing other monsters?" Link inquired, and his mind drew him back to the times he would always feel his strength and energy leave him when a Shadow would clutch him by the neck. Perhaps the strength that left him was gathered into the bodies of the Shadows, imbuing them with more power and making them by far more deadly.

"That is what we heard from our patriarch," Darabius answered. "That was his testimony."

"It doesn't look like there's anything else here," Renée pointed out, crouching down and searching the darkness of the chamber. And she was right: save the many bodies that covered the floor, there was absolutely nothing else in the room—merely rocks and no sign of life. "Are the Shadows nearby?" Darabius only nodded and the humans easily noticed his frightened look. They only guessed that he was scared of the fact that he might run into a Shadow and, perhaps, may even be killed by one.

"Please lead us to them," Dijonay said softly, stepping forward and placing her small hand upon the shoulder of the rocky brown creature. Darabius shifted, noticing her hand, and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye and gave a small nod.

"This way," he said, and he started for a path that was hidden behind a large boulder on the platform, treading upon it in a cautious manner to ensure that he did not lose his footing and tumble down the rest of the way. The humans followed suit, keeping in a closely set, single-file line so that if someone were to fall one of them would be able to reach out and catch them.

As the group descended into the room, the odor of dead bodies increased, causing them to wrinkle and cover their noses. The only one who did not appear fazed by the smell was Darabius; in fact, he did not seem to even notice the dead bodies, stepping over and around them as though they were merely stray piles of rocks.

"This is disgusting," Renée muttered, lifting a foot to hop over a pair of bokoblins, their skin pale and their eyes wide and staring up at her. She tore her own eyes away, shaking the image out of her mind and proceeded to follow after the others, making sure she did not look into the dead eyes of the victims that surrounded her.

When the group had made it halfway across the room, the young Arkanian woman spotted something glittering in the hands of one of the bulbins. Frowning and trying to identify what it was from where she stood, Renée craned her neck forward before finally deciding to go closer. When she had reached the bulbin she fell to one knee and, steadily, she reached forward and pried the creature's cold fingers apart, revealing what it was holding.

It was a small red stone that she saw, one that had an odd, almost ethereal glow around it. A small orange light expanded and retracted in the stone's center, almost as if it were a heartbeat, following the steady course of its set rhythm.

Casting a furtive glance to the bulbin, as though she were expecting it to jump to life and attack her, Renée stuck out a finger and lightly prodded the rock, causing it to roll around the palm of the beast.

She held her breath and her eyes flicked to the dead bulbin again before she unfurled all of her fingers and closed them around the stone. She then pulled it off of the creature's gloved hand, partly surprised that it had been melted into the leather fabric of the accessory, and got to her feet, bringing the object closer to her eyes for examination.

With her opposite hand she removed the shredded and destroyed pieces of the glove that still clung to the stone and let them fall towards the ground. Once the object was free of its unneeded clothing, Renée noticed that it was not a perfectly shaped stone but rather jagged and chipped, as if it were a fraction of a whole.

The young woman then looked up, seeing that Darabius and her allies were far ahead of her. Quickly she shoved her discovery into her pocket and sprinted to catch up with her company, nimbly hopping over the bodies of the monsters and careful not to trip over the unleveled ground.

She and the others continued to trek through the field of monsters until they reached a dark tunnel on the opposite end of the cavern, one that was so dark that Mekial had to create a bobbing orb of light to illuminate their way. The party once again fell into step behind Darabius, feeling a slight increase in the temperature that brought the warmth back to their once numbed fingertips.

Gradually, the scent of the large chamber behind them died away and was replaced with the smell of ashes and of smoldering wood and metal. Moments later a faint orange light grew ahead of them as the tunnel ended, granting permission for Mekial to put out his ball of light.

After he had done so the group entered the next room, their feet clunking loudly against the metal-faced floor. Link approached the metal rail that ran alongside the platform and placed his hands upon it, leaning forward to see what the rest of the cave included.

Far below was a shallow pool of lava that covered a majority of the cave and circling around it was a level of rock, uneven and partly eaten away by the lava. Shadows danced and darted along the walls, their owners unknown, and they overlapped one another and repeatedly flickered in and out of view as if something were blocking the light that revealed them.

Link removed himself from the rail and turned to face his company, informing them that they were not alone in this room. Exchanging glances, his party drew their weapons and he did the same.

"Darabius and Dijonay, stay behind us," he ordered the weaponless pair, and he was the first to descend the short metal staircase that was before them and then he walked as quietly as he could upon the grated ramp below. At the slightest sound, Link would duck beneath the railing and peek over it to see if anything in the room was coming their way—but nothing ever was.

And so as silently as possible, the group continued to creep down the grated incline, weapons at the ready and their bodies tensing when something popped out of the lava pool or when a small pebble tumbled from the walls beside them.

At the bottom of the slope the trellised floor became the rocky, circular path that Link had seen before and the party closed themselves against the final stretch of the rail, Dijonay and Darabius at a safe distance behind them.

Link held a hand in front of his allies, signaling for them to remain in place while he peeked around the metal railing. With his breath hushed the Hyrulean craned his neck and poked his head around the corner to look into the chamber. Behind him his allies were just as silent, their hands clasped around their artilleries and their knees bent in preparation for jumping into battle.

Link's azure eyes scanned the room, the only light that aided in his looking being the faint orange glow that emanated from the lava in the cavern's center. In a delayed manner he lifted a hand to wave to his allies that all was clear, all the while his heart pounding in his ears.

And yet, something did not seem right.

The shadows that he had seen creeping along the walls before were nowhere to be seen. Had he been seeing things before?

He dropped his hand and looked over his group and up the ramp until he could see Darabius. Quietly, he asked the creature if he was sure that this was where the Shadows were and, in reply, the Goron nodded, his thin lips pressed together in reflection of his apprehension.

Link turned back to the cave and after doing one last sweep of the room he got to his feet, though he did not sheath his weapons.

Slowly, he stepped away from the ramp, every soft tap of his foot sending his mind into a panic, wondering if a Shadow would burst from the dimness around him in a screaming frenzy, its hands outstretched. One by one, his allies came up beside him, each of them looking to a different part of the room, searching for anything that may prove to be threatening.

Darabius and Dijonay were the last to join them, Darabius casting constant looks over his shoulder and his large body literally quivering with fear. Dijonay moved to comfort him yet, as she did so, her vision suddenly grew hazy.

She blinked repeatedly, expecting the sudden water in her eyes to disappear but her sight only grew cloudier, blurring the silhouette of Darabius until he looked like nothing more than a large brown blob to her.

Taking a steady breath to ease her racked nerves, the Arkanian Governess closed her eyes and then reopened them, allowing her bleary eyes to grow distant and empty. Her brown colored orbs then fogged completely, blocking the normal, brown color of her eyes with a white haze and sealing her mind's eye in a blur of whooshing colors.

Fields erupted from beneath the Prime Minister's feet, expanding on all sides of her and a blue sky exploded into view above her, white clouds rolling into it from seemingly out of nowhere, and dragging with them groups of small birds and guays.

Then, just as always, the ground beneath her shifted, sending Dijonay zooming towards the nearby mountains. Yet, instead of crashing into them she passed right through them, moving through a short darkness before she found herself standing before the gates of a castle.

And, just as always, she spotted Link standing before the open doors of the castle gates, her profile view of him rigid as he stared into the land of the manor that was behind the gates. Out of her side vision she spotted a small group of people gathering behind the Hyrulean, also staring at the grounds of the castle.

To Dijonay's annoyance, she could not move to see who had shown up behind Link, as her visions only allowed her to see what they wanted her to see. Thus, she was forced to keep a still view of the side of Link's face, waiting for something to happen, but knowing that nothing ever would—nothing ever did, in any case.

However this time, something was different: something exceptionally small but exceptionally intriguing to her.

A soldier stepped out from behind the doors of the castle gates, a piece of rolled-up paper clutched tightly in his fist. When he was just out of arm's reach of Link, he unrolled the parchment and held it up for the Hyrulean to see.

Link's once serious expression broke into a look of surprise and his jaw dropped—behind him, the people that were with him tensed as well and Dijonay could sense that they were also shocked at what was on the paper.

The Prime Minister willed every muscle in her body to loosen, to give her the ability to see what it was that was on the paper but to no avail.

And then the image fell from her eyes, leaving her feeling both empty and enraged. Her visions of the future never allowed her to see everything—they would always leave something out and would never show her what it was until much, much later.

The fog that had once clouded Dijonay's vision parted, granting her a view of the dark mining chamber, as well as a line-up of concerned and worried faces. When her senses had returned to reality, she recognized the faces and, shaking off the last of her experience, she responded to her companions' expressions with a look of confusion.

"Is...is something the matter?" she asked, her eyes resting on each of them for an equal amount of time. "Did something happen?"

"'Did something happen'?" Brent repeated. "Your eyes looked like they rolled into the back of your head and _you_ ask _us_ if something happened."

Dijonay blinked and then frowned at Brent's tone, however was forced to ignore it when Mekial spoke.

"You were having that vision again, weren't you?"

"What vision?" Brent asked automatically, dropping his eyes to the youngest of the party. "You mean like, a vision of the future?" His voice had slowly filled with surprise as he had asked this and his expression was next to be filled with it when both the sorcerer and the Prime Minister nodded.

Despite the fact that he had lived with her, Brent had never been aware of his younger sister's ability to see into the future. He had heard people speaking of it in the streets of Peluma, how the new Prime Minister of Arkania could foresee events weeks before they occurred, but he had dismissed the discussions as mere rumors and exaggerations of her intuition.

Now finding that the gossip was actually the truth, he wondered if she had foreseen things that the Hylian Rights Groups planned.

"While we were crossing the Great Sea, Dijonay told me that she had a vision," Mekial began to explain. "She told me, um...three times, I think."

"I've had it four times now," Dijonay added. "The time span in between the times I had the vision have begun to decrease. I just had this vision a few days earlier."

"Does having it more often mean something?" Renée asked, looking between the two.

"Having the visions at closer intervals will eventually lead to it coming to pass," Dijonay stated seriously. "Though, my visions only warn me of small things that are going to happen—they never reveal everything to me."

"So you're aware of the smallest bit of a future event right now?" Brent pushed and Dijonay nodded. "Can you tell us what it is?" Dijonay shook her head and Brent frowned. "How come?"

"I can only say that we are going to the castle," she replied. "I did not learn much from this vision—" She stopped herself. "Though, there was something different in it that did not happen in my previous ones..."

"What?"

"A soldier showed Link something on a piece of parchment at the castle gates."

"What was on the parchment?" Link asked, his tone as grim as hers.

"I don't know, but judging from your expression it probably is not good."

"Well, that's vague..." Brent murmured.

"I did say that I did not learn much, did I not?" Dijonay shot back.

"As interesting as this all is, aren't we here for something more important?" Katrina cut in, raising a hand as though the movement would cease all conversation and halt any upcoming arguments. "We can talk about all of this after we get that shard and get out of here. My rashes are getting rashes." As if on cue, the Corvenian scratched her shoulder.

"Katrina's right," Link agreed while nodding. "We should get going." His eyes flicked to the side of the party, spotting a circular door in the side of the rocky wall, broken and half-covering the doorway that led to the next cavern.

It was hidden behind a pillar of rock as though it had not wished to be seen, ashamed of its shattered appearance. "It looks like something has been here..."

He made his way towards the door, stretching out a hand and fingering the splintered wood of the movable barrier. He gripped the two indentations in the bottom half of the door and tugged it to the left, intending to slide it to the side but the attempt failed, as the wooden door was falling inward, making it completely immovable.

As such, Link began to tear at a large bit of wood that blocked most of the doorway, trying to make it so that he and his accomplices could fit through it. As he did so, Darabius came up beside him and granted him his help, the pair ripping the door apart even more and making it look as though a bomb had blown the thing to shreds.

Their work completed, the group entered the room behind the broken door, finding themselves stepping into a rather small cave with an elevator. Unlike the one that was found in the wrestling chamber of the Gorons' living quarters, this elevator was situated in a grated shaft, large enough to fit the entire group. A switch was located on the metal pole beside the elevator, presently pointed upward.

Renée was the first to make her way towards said switch, flicking it up and down to see if it was still working. Her answer to this curiosity was the sound of gears inside of the elevator making loud banging noises, moving themselves in preparation for the elevator's upward movement and then moving themselves in preparation for the elevator's downward movement.

"It sounds like it still works," she muttered, ceasing her flicking and leaving the switch to be pointed down. "Where do you think it leads?"

"If we go up it might take us back to where we came into the mines," Brent offered, approaching the elevator shaft and looking through its empty ceiling and towards the darkness that lay unyielding above. "As for down...who knows?"

"Darabius, do you know?" Renée turned to look at their Goron escort, frowning when she did not see him. "Darabius?"

"He's not here?" Brent turned away from the vertical tunnel and towards where he had seen the young rock eater merely a moment ago.

"Darabius!" Renée called the creature's name and jogged out of the doorway, ducking beneath the splintered remains of the door's upper half and she searched the cylindrical chamber for him, though he was still out of sight. "But he was just here—why would he suddenly disappear?"

But then Dijonay's scream of terror surged through her confusion, sending her into a short panic and causing her to grip the hilt of her sword.

When she turned to look at the Governess, Mekial had jumped to take a defensive position in front of her, cloak pushed over his shoulders and eyes darting around the cave in wariness. But Dijonay was not screaming due to a monster—rather, her eyes were wide and her hands were over her still opened mouth, trembling in fear. Renée rushed to her side.

"What's wrong?"

"H-he's..." Dijonay choked on the word and found herself unable to speak. Instead, she pointed a trembling finger towards the ramp, towards a brown lump on the floor that lay unmoving—

Towards Darabius.

"Darabius!" Renée sheathed her weapon and jogged to the side of the mountain dweller and rolled him onto his back, for he had been laying on his side with a hand covering his face. "He's so heavy—g-gugh!"

Renée lurched backward when the creature was flat on his back, his once full, blue-violet eyes now dilated and staring up at the ceiling in unchanging fear. "Wh-what the..."

"What happened to him?" Link was on the other side of the Goron in an instant, pressing two fingers towards the neck of the being and waiting for the feel of a pulse.

But there was nothing.

"I-I dunno," Renée stammered, her heart pounding and her eyes wide as she stared at the fallen body of their guide. "Dijonay saw him..." Trailing off, the Arkanian looked to the Prime Minister, who by now had tears welling in her eyes.

The young woman sank to her knees then, unable to tear her eyes away from the sight before her. Mekial fell to his knees beside her and placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to comfort her but to no avail. His Governess only continued to tremble in his grip, her hands still over her silently wailing mouth.

Link drew his hand away from the Goron's neck then, for he had spotted something upon the brown flesh of the being. Leaning forward, he examined the creature's nearly hidden cervix, rubbing his fingertips along an odd scar that was marked there. The wound seemed to be indented into the boy's flesh, circling to both sides of his neck and located above his jugular vein.

"He was..." the Hyrulean pulled away from Darabius' body, "...strangled..."

"Strangled?" Renée repeated, flabbergasted. "You sure?" She, too, dropped her eyes to the neck of the creature, this time spotting what Link was referring to. "But...wouldn't he have made a struggle? Wouldn't we have heard him being dragged away?"

"This is horrible..." Dijonay whispered, finally able to find her voice. She shook her head and buried her face in her hands, tears spilling from her eyes without any hint of ceasing. "He's...he's..." Her shoulders began to shake with small sobs and she could not bring herself to say the condition that the Goron was in.

Behind her and her guard, Brent and Katrina searched the chamber, weapons at the ready and waiting for something to jump out of the darkness and attack their small group.

His eyes constricted, Link got to his feet and looked around the room, staring at the upward slope of the ramp before moving to the shallow lava pool and then up to the cave's walls. For an instant he thought he spotted the hem of a cloak flicker into view under the light of the liquid fire, but it vanished almost as soon as he had seen it, leaving him in doubt.

As he continued to search the room, waiting with bated breath for an ambush but hoping that nothing would happen, the Ordonian's mind reminded him of the morning he had found the postman in the fields of Hyrule, his body pale and empty. Could it be possible that whoever had attacked the postman had just killed Darabius?

But how could that be? How could anyone or anything kill someone without making even the smallest sound?

"'As silent as the night'..." he whispered and he drew a knuckle to his chin as he recalled the description of the Shadows that the postman had given to Zelda so long ago.

According to the princess, the postman had witnessed a Shadow attack—at the same time, Link remembered how the Shadows had always attacked him, first by grabbing his neck and sucking the life and air out of him.

So had Darabius been attacked by a Shadow? There certainly was proof of this: the finger marks layered across his neck, as well as his wide eyes, showing that he had been attacked and killed swiftly.

Link could not find any other explanation for the death of the Goron, thus he decided to go along with this theory. He returned his eyes to his group, seeing that, behind their angry looks and wary bodies, they were particularly affected by the sudden death of their Goron guide.

Link could not blame them—death was not something that could be taken easily. He even found that his heart was still pounding and his mind was growing frightened, wondering if he and his party would be the next to die.

But he could not linger on such terrorizing thoughts—if he did so, how would he be able to move on?

Drawing his sword and shield, he refaced his comrades and his movement drew their attention. "We can't stay in here," he began, and he paused when a fresh sob wracked through the body of the Governess and, for support, she hid her face in the cloak of her bodyguard, muffling her cries and obscuring her tears. Solemnly, he cast his eyes away from her and looked to the others who were watching him, waiting for him to continue. "We don't know if we could be attacked next—let's take that elevator down and see where it leads."

Her wails having died down enough for her to articulate her words, Dijonay gave one last sniff and removed her face from the security of Mekial's dark cloak, her tears having drenched a centered spot but quickly drying in the intense heat of the room. "But we...we can't just leave him here," she said softly, her eyes red and puffy.

"I know," Link replied, his voice having taken a softer tone. "But we can't take him with us either."

"So we're...we're just going to...leave him?" Dijonay's lower lip wobbled and her eyes became shinier as tears gathered in their corners.

The grip on Link's sword tightened and he cast his eyes down to the Goron's corpse, holding his next sentence on his tongue and realizing how heartless it must seem to the Governess.

But he could not concern himself with such things—taking Darabius' body with them wherever they went from now on would only slow them down.

He turned his eyes back to the others and gave a curt nod, adding in a firm voice, "We're leaving him." He did not allow his eyes to even flinch when he heard Dijonay begin to cry again, but rather made his way back to the elevator cave, fishing through his belt pouch for his iron boots.

Renée knelt down beside Darabius and pulled his eyelids down, unable to bear the way his sightless eyes stared upward any longer. As she turned to walk away, she spotted a small path in the dirt, one that led straight to where Darabius was laying.

Crouching down to get a better view, the Arkanian identified the path as tracks, presumably made by when Darabius had been silently dragged away from her and her companions. Frowning, she followed the track, finding that it ended only a couple of feet away from the door of the elevator's cave.

Seeing this, Renée concluded that the Shadow had probably swept in from above, out of sight of Darabius or anyone else to keep a low profile. As soon as she thought of this she turned her eyes up, catching sight of what she believed was a cloak vanish into the shadows of the rock pillar that stood before the smaller cave.

"Renée." Her eyes jumped to said cave when she heard Brent calling her and, casting one last glance towards the shadows above her, she entered the hollow and embarked the lift.

Once she had stepped aboard, Link placed himself upon the button centered on the platform and the party watched as the floor rose above their heads, sealing them in utter darkness.

The gears of the elevator rolled against the metal poles it was attached to, periodically bumping over a small indentation in the structure and causing its passengers to bounce slightly. But when the elevator gave an odd lurch, the band tensed and stumbled, their eyes looking for the cause of the elevator's jerking movement but unable to see in the blackness.

"Mekial, some light please," Dijonay ordered and just as her bodyguard prepared to begin his chant, the elevator jerked violently. Adrenaline coursing through their veins, the party grabbed the nearest thing that they could hold on to, hoping that whatever was going on with the elevator was either normal or temporary.

But it was not.

An ear-splitting screeching noise reached their ears and sparks flew from the back end of the lift. Then, there came a loud bang and the elevator increased in speed, sending more flickers of orange light to erupt from the metal poles that its gears clung to.

The next thing they knew was that they were beginning to float, the floor of the lifting device leaving their feet. Shouts and screams of fright clawed out of their throats and they gripped the grates of the elevator's walls with all of their might, hoping that they would not fly away from the machine.

Despite his terror, Mekial forced his magic to gather in his hand, the energy that it created glinting around his palm before it ignited into a clear and solid light, illuminating the terrorized faces of his allies and the broken gears located in the back of the elevator.


	46. Chapter 45

**Chapter Forty-Five**

"Mekial, do something!" Katrina shouted.

"Like what?" Mekial roared back.

"I don't know! You're the one with all of the fancy magic tricks!"

"Guys, I think I see a light!" Brent called, peering through the sliver of an opening that ran along the perimeter of the elevator's platform. "And it's getting closer—" He swore. "Are those rocks?!"

"Everyone, on three I want you all to let go of the walls!" Link shouted.

"You want us to _what_?!" Katrina looked at him over her shoulder, wishing she could smack him but knowing that her hands were presently preoccupied.

"Mekial, when we all let go, I want you to make a platform under us using the walls!" Link ordered the sorcerer. "You got that?"

"I think so—"

"Then, one!"

"Wait, he's serious?" Katrina looked to the others, who were watching Link with intensity, ready to release their support as soon as he gave the call.

"Two!"

Renée reluctantly let go of the wall with one hand and then peeked through the small opening in the floor; her heart nearly jumped into her throat when she saw that the light that Brent had pointed out was much closer and, as he had pointed out as well, there was a level of hard rock just in front of it, implying that the elevator was doomed for a heavy crash.

"Three!"

And she released the wall as soon as Link called out the number, wailing as the elevator fell further away from her. Around her she could see that her allies had done the same, their bodies now floating as if a heavy gale was suspending them in midair.

Then, at Link's call, Mekial stretched a hand out to the walls beside him, willing his magic to soar from his extended fingers and gather into the walls of the shaft. When he felt as if he had done so he drew his hands together and, bending to his will, the walls complied, an uneven floor of rock flying from either wall and crashing together in the center of the tunnel, creating a secure landing for the band.

The group fell atop this piece of manipulated ground, piling on and rolling off of one another. Seconds after they had landed, there came a resounding and metallic crash from below them, causing the walls to shake and the floor to rumble. The vibrations from the broken elevator's collapse rattled through their already trembling bodies and their minds spiraled out of terror and into an uneasy relaxation.

"We're alive..." Renée whispered, staring at her shaking hands. She then bowed her head and pressed her hands into the soil of the rocky platform, closing her eyes. "I can't believe it..."

"You are the most insane person I have ever met," Katrina growled, glaring daggers at the only Hyrulean in the party. Link avoided her eyes.

"I saved us from the crashing elevator, didn't I?"

"No, Mekial did." Katrina rose to her feet and then leaned against one of the walls, as her body was still not steady enough to stand.

But Link did not bother to give a reply to the girl; instead he searched the dimness of the area for the magician. Once spotting him he gave him a small smile.

"Nice work."

Breathing heavily, Mekial did not respond; he only nodded and closed his eyes, then leaned his shoulder against one of the walls as he fought to regain control over his shaking body.

"Brent, what was that light that you saw?" Link directed his attention towards the blue-haired Arkanian then, catching his light brown gaze despite the darkness of their location.

"Uh, it was bright," the Hylian started, scratching the back of his head. "Like, really bright. Brighter than all of the lava we've seen before." He cut himself off when he heard his sister let out a gasp and he turned to look at her, finding that she was staring at Link with a wide-eyed expression.

"Link, do you think...?"

She let her words hang in the air then, her voice trailing off in thought and although she had not finished her sentence, Link knew what her next few words would have been. His body having steadied, he got to his feet.

"It could be," he replied slowly, frowning towards the ground, as though he would be able to sense the light that lay hidden beneath it. He clenched his left fist and a warmth grew from the velvet pouch that sat in his belt bag, as though the shard in it, too, was searching for its close counterpart. "Mekial, could you let us down?"

As soon as the words had slipped out of Link's mouth the ground crumbled away, sending them plummeting towards the floor below. They each landed in a heap upon the broken remains of the elevator, groaning in pain and struggling to get to their feet.

Brent shoved a rock off of his mid-section and then grabbed his abdomen, grunting as he drew himself up and into a proper sitting position.

Rubbing her head, Renée got off of the slab of metal that she had fallen on top of, her teeth gritted in pain, and she searched the debris for her sibling.

Spotting him pulling himself out from beneath a pile of rubble, she approached and began to help him. "You know, it wouldn't kill to give us a warning."

"S-sorry...I-I panicked," he answered her, brushing the last of the small rocks off of him and standing. He then pulled one of his booted feet out from a pile of metal and looked up the elevator shaft, worry etched over his young face. "I thought I saw something moving."

Brent knelt before the broken gears of the elevator, his eyebrows pointed down as he brushed bits of dirt off of its oily surface. He then locked his eyes upon the spur gears, noting how they appeared to be bent and twisted, probably due to the fact that the elevator had fallen midway down its flight.

But he could not dismiss the fact that there was not exactly an explanation for the fact that the gear on the left side of the elevator looked as though it had been crushed into the smallest form it could take—although Brent knew hardly anything about these Goron elevators, he could not believe that one that broke could cause a gear to take on such a shape.

Though how the gear broke was not something that he could worry about at the moment. As such, Brent scooped up his Bo staff and made to enter the small cave behind him, its ceiling hoisted by columns of rock that spread throughout the room. The light that he had seen earlier filled the entire area and, after a moment of searching, Brent found that its source was a small golden object that floated near the center of the room. His allies by now were beginning to gather around it and Link was already reaching into his bag to retrieve the velvet pouch.

As Brent stepped out from the mess of the elevator, his eyes remained locked upon the shard in awe. His agreeing to Dijonay's terms had definitely proved to be good for him, as this journey was beginning to reveal more and more of the truths of Hyrule that had once been dismissed as mere folktales and legends. Even now he still could not disguise his astonishment as he bore witness to the shard that floated just in front of him.

His eyes glowing with its light, he made to walk towards the relic to get a better view, but he was stopped when an odd tingling sensation ran up his spine and caused the hairs on the back of his neck to crawl.

Just as Link moved to scoop the Triforce shard into the bag, Brent shouted for him to stop. He looked up from his action, searching the dimness of the out-of-service elevator tunnel until he spotted Brent standing just outside of it, his legs bent into a battle-ready position and his staff pointed towards something that floated above the remains of the lifting device.

Link's eyes discerned the being's shape and he tensed, as did his allies, and he did not try to continue with sealing the shard into the bag.

For standing there, giving no sign of moving, was a hoard of Shadows, the blackness of the clouds that swirled about their feet staying far from the light of the room and their lanky fingers practically itching for the feel of one of the humans' necks.

Link guessed that the reason the beasts were not moving was because of the bright light that filled the next room, keeping them at bay. For now, the darkness of the elevator shaft was their sanctuary, and there they would wait until the shard was out of sight, granting them permission to lunge forward and kill off the members of the traveling group.

As such, Link could not take the shard and there was no other exit in the cavern, no other way to avoid the patient ferocity of the Shadows.

They were stuck.

Renée took a small step backward, bumping into one of the many pillars that filled the room. She then bit her lip as a sudden burning pain appeared on her thigh and she stuck her hand into her pocket, discovering that that was the source of the odd heat that was hurting her. Her fingers closed around the red stone that she had found earlier and she pulled it out.

Tearing her eyes away from the Shadows, she looked down to the stone, watching the orange light within it pulsate just as it had been doing when she had first found it.

But this time, the orange light was larger and its rhythmic beating was going at a quicker pace; with each beat of its heart the stone increased in temperature.

Then, the same heat that had tried to burn a hole in her clothing came again, melting into her glove and singeing her already irritated skin. The rising temperature of the rock increased quickly and by reflex Renée flung the stone to the wall beside her, unable to bear its heat any longer. But she had not been expecting what would happen when the stone made contact with the wall.

Her eyes widened when flames erupted from the red rock as soon as it touched the cave wall, billows of smoke exploding from the fiery eruption and sending vibrations coursing throughout the small and unstable hollow. The black fog that emitted from the stone consumed the entire cavern in a matter of seconds, flying into the opened mouths of the traveling band and sending them into a coughing frenzy. In an attempt to escape, they fell to their knees and covered their heads, waiting for the rock's deathly explosion to pass.

Pieces of rock pillars and debris flew over their heads and fell from the ceiling, piling up in corners and threatening to cause the entire room to collapse upon itself. Amidst the chaos, the shard had fallen to the ground, as though the detonation had rattled its magic and distracted it from keeping itself afloat.

The cloud that had gathered by the source of the explosion began to disperse, granting a smoky gray view of the clear blue sky outside. Seeing this, the members of the traveling band hurtled themselves forward, sprinting for the daylight.

As his companions made to depart, Link dropped his eyes to the ground and his hands darted about the soil, searching for the velvet bag and the shard. He found the bag beside him and lifted his eyes, spotting the shard just before a large rock fell on top of it.

Cursing, the Hyrulean proceeded to move the rock, pushing it aside with all of the strength that he could muster. Letting out a strangled grunt he gave another push, shoving the boulder aside enough for the light of the shard to be seen.

Not wanting to take any chances and make himself vulnerable for an attack, Link fell upon his stomach and slid the velvet bag beneath the rock, squinting through the sands that poured from the ceiling and wiggling his hands around until the shard was finally sealed into the pouch.

Link then tied the bag shut and searched the room for the exit that had been formed. He leaped to his feet and hotfooted towards it when he found it, as rocks and boulders were quickly beginning to block it. If he did not hurry, he would be sealed in this room and crushed beneath its falling weight—

Something rough slithered across his neck and squeezed, pulling him backward and causing his eyes to bulge out of their sockets.

Link let out a strangled cry of frustration, wriggling in the Shadow's death-like grip. His strength rapidly escaping him, he attempted to pry the monster's bothersome hand away from his throat, but to no avail.

Right when he thought that he might wind up remaining in the room, something over his head shook violently and then fell, crushing the Shadow with one single impact.

Released from his captor, Link leaped over a recently fallen rock and continued on with his sprint for the exit. Another Shadow's hand swung out in front of him and he ducked and rolled, but he did not stop. Something gripped the edge of his vest and he spun himself out of the beast's grasp, a rock that suddenly lost its support and collapsing atop of the Shadow aiding him in his escape.

Stumbling as he regained his footing, he bumbled towards the hole in the wall, his eyes flicking towards a rock that was settled above it; his heart jumped when he saw that it was shaking and beginning to fall from the groove in the wall that had once held on to it.

Clenching his teeth, Link dove forward, fitting through the last of the hole just before the boulder that he had seen fell over it, sealing the Shadows in the collapsing room.

At first, he felt a joy arise within him, but it died when he felt himself falling; he dropped his eyes and his heart sank when he saw the deathly drop beneath him.


	47. Chapter 46

**Chapter Forty-Six**

The wind clawing through the roots of her dark hair, Renée squinted through the water collecting in her eyes, watching in terror as the ground came speeding towards her and her companions. A panic that she only imagined many times before grabbed hold of her in that moment and she realized that within the next minute she would be splattered upon the mountainous terrain of the Gorons' territory, dead.

She would be dead.

Merely the thought made her heartbeat quicken and her feet grow numb with fright.

Yet, amidst this fright, Renée spotted something beside her, glittering in the sunlight as it plummeted towards the ground and threatening to create another detonation—one that would destroy both she and her companions. Against the force of the wind, the Arkanian reached out for the red stone, closing her fingers around it and maintaining her strongest clutch upon it.

Unlike before, the rock was no longer an object that burned the hand when touched. Rather, it was cool, stable and relaxed; emotions that Renée could only wish were within her at that time. But, perhaps if she were not presently plummeting roughly and painfully towards her death, those feelings would have been in her.

The young Arkanian then clenched her eyes shut, the wrath of the wind pummeling into her, keeping all the control over her body to itself as it caused her body to tumble to the earth like a rag doll. Paralyzed by this numbing feeling, she could not block her face from the incoming gales that rushed her, the gales that willed for her destruction. The palest of yelps slipped out of her mouth, carried away from her ears by the howling air currents.

And then, all at once all sound was removed from her and she was no longer falling. A sudden warmth had surrounded her, cutting all air off from her lungs and suffocated her, crowded her.

Strangled by the force that blocked her air passages, she twisted and writhed with restricted movements, struggling to discover which way was up, which way lead to escape. Bubbles appeared around her with each movement that she made, sending her mind into a rampage of confusion mixed with dawning and utter terror.

Finally she felt a tug on her upper arm and in less than a moment she found herself coughing up the mouthfuls of water droplets that she had drank in during her struggle. The sound of her allies' coughing came to her ears as her hacks began to die down, and she felt a light pull on her shoulder. The next thing she knew, she was climbing out of the pool of water, her sopping wet hair plastered to her face and neck and her clothes bogging with the weight of water.

Panting and gasping, her arms could no longer withhold her weight and she fell on her side, her lungs sucking in air quicker than she could cough up the water that filled them. Thus, she choked and fell into a fit of coughing again, her nostrils burned by the water that had traveled through them.

Once her chokes had finally died away, Renée lifted her head groggily, feeling gallingly lightheaded and dizzy all at once. Her stomach burbled, as though she was getting sick, and she angled her head so that she could see behind her.

There, she found that she and her companions had fallen into a basin of water, hot, as steam was coiling off of its surface. The rest of her allies were proceeding to pull themselves out of the water as well and, spotting someone missing, she looked around, finding the once absent person to be right beside her, struggling to regain control over his own breathing.

"You" — Brent gave another cough — "all right?"

Renée could only find the strength to nod and she dropped her head, inhaling and exhaling slowly. The sounds of the rest of the party dragging themselves on to the rocky shore drew her attention, though she did not move to see them.

"Is...is everyone h-here?" Dijonay asked, her speech interrupted by a short cough and a choke.

"I think so..." was the reply that came from Link.

Mekial was the first to look back up to the mountainside to see if he could still see the cave that they had leaped out of. Half to his surprise, he found it: a giant, gaping hole in the side of the mountain's once smooth and unblemished face, and a rock that was visible from where the magician was tumbled out of it.

"I can...I can still see it..." he mumbled, sounding as though he could not believe his own words. The memory of the wall igniting into flames beside him was a sight that he could not erase from his mind, as it had been both spontaneous and frightening at the same time. And he could not help but wonder: what had caused the explosion in the first place?

"That wall blew up like it was nobody's business," Brent murmured, as though Mekial's same thoughts were passing through his mind as well. "It saved us—sorta. But...what made it?"

"That's what I want to know," Link said, getting to his feet and looking up at the hole in the side of the mountain.

"U-uh..." Renée got to her feet as well, her hands wrapped around the red stone. "I think..." Her companions looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "I think it was this..." And she removed the hand that covered the rock and held it out to the others, all of them coming closer to get a better look at what Renée was speaking of.

Link frowned as he watched the small light in the rock pulsate, as though it were as alive as he was. "What is it?"

"No idea," Renée admitted. "I found it in that field of dead bodies."

At this, Dijonay's face wrinkled into a look of disgust. "You took it from one of those corpses?" she asked, her voice dripping with disapproval and revolt.

"It's not like they needed it!" Renée countered, feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. "It looked pretty important anyway. I thought that after we left I'd be able to show it to the patriarch."

"You said it caused the explosion?" Link asked, redirecting the conversation towards the main topic. When Renée nodded, he reached forward and took the small stone from her palm, examining it. "It's so tiny."

"I had it in my pocket and it started to burn me," Renée started to explain. "I just sort of...reacted and threw it away from me because it was so hot and the next thing I knew—boom." Link returned the stone to her.

"Either way, you having that rock made us a way out," Katrina said, looking at the stone before lifting her eyes to the girl that held it. "It was suicide. But it worked."

"The Shadows were all crushed in that room, too," Link added. "So I'd say the Gorons don't have to worry about them being there anymore." Upon hearing this, Dijonay gave a small jump and she looked at Link, her eyes hopeful.  
"You got the shard, didn't you?"

Link nodded and, to prove it, he held up his hand and showed the Prime Minister the velvet pouch that he had held on to during his fall and unexpected dive. Looking at it with a stoic expression, Dijonay held out her hand. "May I see?"

Link placed the pouch in her hand then and the young Governess untied it, cautiously, and once the tie was undone she looked inside, seeing the two shards of the Triforce that they had collected. She let her eyes remain on the broken pieces of the ancient relic, their brown irises reflecting the dull yellow glow that the item gave off. Then, looking away, she retied the pouch and gave it back to Link, who placed it back in the bag on his belt.

"Well, now that we're out of that hell-hole, should we start heading back to see the Gorons, now?" Katrina offered, absentmindedly scratching a rash hidden beneath her sleeve and further irritating her skin. "We can let them know that we found what we were looking for and got rid of the Shadows in the process. For the record, I suggest we keep quiet about their new hole in the wall."

"But, we should tell them...about..." Dijonay's voice quieted when the name of the person she was thinking of came to her mind, and for a moment she let her words hang in the air, the name on her tongue, and she fought to suppress the tears she felt welling up in her eyes, "...about..."

Unable to continue, the girl cast her eyes to the ground and covered her mouth and nose with a hand, fighting back her tears in an attempt to remain strong despite the guilt that she felt for the death of their guide.

In respect of how the event had rattled her, Link merely nodded and did not utter the name of their deceased Goron usher. "We should go back," he agreed, nodding again. "But there's...just one small thing that you should know."

"What's that?" Renée inquired, her eyes large with curiosity, making her look particularly oblivious to Link's somewhat grim expression.

"Since I'm the one that actually lives here, I'm guessing you all think that I know everything about the landscaping of Hyrule, every back road, every path," Link started.

"You got it," Brent said, solidifying Link's thought with a trace of a smile across his face.

"Well, I—"

"You don't know how to get back, do you," Katrina deadpanned. In reply, Link gave a sheepish grin and the Corvenian rolled her eyes with a frustrated sigh.

"This is what happens when you leave the idiot in charge," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and careful to make sure that she put as much emphasis on the insult as she could muster. Renée was the only one that found the courage to stand up to Katrina's foul mood.

"Well, that might be going a bit far," she said quietly, her brow crinkled and a faint smile on her face to show that she did not mean for her comment to be a reprimand. "I guess...we'll just have to find a way back?"

"No need to worry about it, Link," Brent added, noticing the hint of guilt that was on his comrade's face. The Hylian jabbed a thumb into his chest. "As leader of Taranis, I've also got a good sense of direction. And I say we go..."

Shading his eyes, he peered up at the sky and then drew an invisible line in the air with his finger, leading from the sun to a tall mound of dirt nearby, most likely to point towards the west.

"Let's see, the mines were about northeast of the village, and if we're behind the mines now, then that means that we should head south." He paused. "That way," and he pointed to his left, aiming towards an almost hidden pass that slithered between two tall and rocky hills. Finding no other alternate route, the band decided to head in this direction, hoping that Brent's sense of direction was as reliable as he made it sound.

They wandered upon the trail for a long while, squeezing between boulders and walls and climbing over the rocky obstacles that they came across on their path. Their already blistered and worn skin became even more scratched and bruised from this short hike, and the heat of the afternoon sun beat down upon them in the small space, not as hot as the mines but still commanding the same authority.

The sun had barely sunk at all by the time the party emerged on the opposite end of the trail, finding themselves standing upon the edge of a cliff that overlooked the entire property that the Gorons owned.

"See?" Brent gestured to the scenic view before proudly folding his arms. "What'd I tell ya?"

"Great," Katrina said in an unimpressed tone, crouching down to see the side of the cliff that they stood upon. "How do we get down there?" She lifted her head to look at Brent when he did not give a reply, regarding him with what Renée might have mistaken for a small smile.

Finally, Brent came closer to the edge of the cliff and leaned forward, peering down to the ledges below in an attempt to find a way of descent.

"Couldn't Mekial just change the landscaping or something?" Renée asked no one in particular, also coming towards the cliff's edge and dropping her eyes to the sickening fall below.

"Well, I can't—and I don't have to," Mekial stated, and the party looked at him, finding him standing before a sloping path that led down to the lower levels of the mountain, wide enough for the group to tread upon it in a single-file line. "We can use this."

And then without waiting for anyone to reply, he stepped upon it and began to follow it to the base of the cliff. Dijonay was the first to fall into step behind him, followed by Link and then the rest of their group.

Upon reaching the base of the hill, the party caught sight of a lone pair of Gorons conversing with each other, their wide and pudgy faces pulled into deep frowns as they exchanged words with one another. One of the Gorons, whose position allowed him to see Link and his approaching band, peeked over the other's shoulder and, giving him a few words of dismissal, moved towards the humans while the other creature curled himself into a ball and rolled away.

"Brother Link!" the Goron called, coming towards the group while lifting a hand in greeting. Link came to the front of the group. "I have heard news for you, Brother," the Goron began, stopping a bit more than arm's length away from Link, allowing him to be able to tower over the party and close them in his shadow. "Though, I heard from the patriarch that you had gone into the mines, so I could not tell you until now."

Link opened his mouth to speak, but the Goron cut him off without even a second of hesitation: "Someone came here for you, Brother."

Link blinked. "Who?"

"I am sorry; his name I cannot remember," the Goron replied, rubbing the back of his head. "However, if you go up to see the patriarch, he can tell you. The man looking for you went to see him, too, I think."

"He was looking for me?" Link repeated curiously, more to himself, as though he were making a mental note.

"You all are finished in the mines, aren't you?" the Goron went on, lifting his eyes to see the Hylian's traveling companions.

"Yeah, we were planning on heading to see the patriarch now, too," Renée added. Feeling a brief stab of pain against her leg, her hand shot into her pocket to clutch the stone, feeling it cool as soon as it came in contact with her.

"I see," the Goron mumbled, his voice coming out in a deep hum as he uttered these words softly. "How did it go? Are the mines free of those dark beasts?"

"Yes," Link answered him. "We've gotten rid of them."

"Ah, that's good to hear..." the Goron mused, as though he were picturing the mines in his mind, recalling every room and passageway that was now freed from the suffocating darkness that the Shadows emitted. The creature then drew himself back into reality, a frown upon his face, as he looked over the group, counting them.

"...Our patriarch said that you went in with a guide," he said softly, his frown deepening. "Where is he?"

Dijonay bit her lip and her eyes flickered to the ground before she took a small step of retreat, her face pained. The others were also unwilling to recall the incident and, as such, could not find the words to address the irate-looking Goron before them.

But then, the Goron's disapproving look disappeared and his shoulders slackened with knowing sadness. "So..." His purple eyes searched their faces, as though trying to find a glimmer in their eyes that showed that his thoughts were wrong. Finding nothing, he, too, gained a visage of sadness. "...He did not make it."

"We are..." Dijonay sniffed before continuing in a strong but sympathetic tone, "we are sorry." And then, at a loss of words, she fell silent and dropped her eyes, the bangs of her mahogany-colored locks hiding her saddened eyes from view.

The Goron did not say anything, but stepped aside, allowing Link and his team passage to the tunnels that led up to the chamber that the patriarch was supposedly within. Silent and trekking forward like some sort of mourning party, the group made their way to the uppermost cavern of the Goron community.

The Gorons that they passed by did not make to speak to them, though if they did they merely gave a short and friendly greeting or a simple nod. Yet, the band was not at all bothered by this, too drowned in their thoughts that were distracted by the events that had occurred within the walls of the mine and the sudden murder of their escort.

The six reached the entrance of the patriarch's cave a short while later, hardly remembering the trip up. Taking the time to exchange short glances, the party filed into the room, walking stiffly. When the darkness of the entrance tunnel had passed over them, they found themselves blinking in the dim lighting of the patriarch's cavern.

It was a small cave, smaller than they had expected in any case, and everything within it was made of rock: from the large table situated against the wall to the statue in the back of the room that greatly resembled a Goron raising its arms in triumph. Though, the eyes of the group were drawn to the lone figure in the room, standing near the table with an unreadable expression on his face.

When Link had appeared with the others behind him, he turned to look at them, watching them silently as they approached. It was not until they had gathered before his desk did his visibly clenched teeth part and his voice growl out of his throat, reechoing in the cavern.

"You are finished?"

Link nodded shortly, wordlessly watching as Darbus' small eyes looked upon the faces of the group, matching them to the faces that he had seen before they had left. When Link was sure that Darbus had finished recounting the group, he waited for the question that he knew the Goron leader was going to ask.

"Where is Darabius?"

Despite his knowing that the question had been on its way, Link was not entirely sure how to tell the patriarch that the young escort had been murdered right behind their backs. His mouth opened and closed twice before he finally decided that beating around the bush was not what the situation was calling for.

"He...was killed," the Hyrulean said, his mind's eye staring at the sight of Darabius' fallen body, his once full, purple eyes staring sightlessly up towards the ceiling.

"Killed?" Darbus repeated, his voice filled with shock. "But how? Were you not with him?" Whether his voice was rising out of anger or curiosity was something that the band could not entirely figure out. Nevertheless, some of them felt themselves slightly shrink in the Goron's presence, the deepness of his voice pressuring their small frames.

"It was a Shadow that killed him," Renée announced, her voice barely matching in comparison with Darbus'. "I-I'm pretty sure we were there, with him, I mean, but...somehow, they got to him and strangled him without us hearing anything."

Darbus did not give a reply to this, but rather dropped his eyes to the desk. When a new question came to his mind, he lifted his eyes to the group again. "Where is his body?" he asked.

Link felt a stab of guilt, thus chose that he should be the one to answer. "We...couldn't bring it with us," he started, his eyes locked on the patriarch's with a look of remorse to show that he was sorry. "And...even if we did, I don't think we would have made it out."

"...Made it out?" Darbus echoed. "What happened?"

"There was a cave-in when we found what we were looking for," Brent stated. "If we had brought Darabius' body with us, we either wouldn't have made it out or we would have made it out but his body would have been crushed in the process."

Darbus nodded. "I see..." After staring at the surface of his rock-hard desk with a thoughtful expression on his face, he spoke again, "I'll go and retrieve his body, then. Where is it?"

"It's beyond the cave where you escaped from the Shadows," Link replied, remembering the story of Darbus' flight and the cavern that was wrought with the stench of dead bodies. "Near the elevator in the next cave."

Darbus merely nodded again. "And the mines are cleared of those beasts?"  
This time, it was Link's turn to nod.

"Then, I thank you." For the first time during their conversation, a small, appreciative smile appeared on the Goron leader's face, though, it appeared more like a grimace to the humans before him.

"Uh, also..." Mekial managed to get part of his thought out, waiting for the large patriarch to direct his attention to him. When he did, the young bodyguard continued. "A Goron told us that someone was looking for Link."

"Oh, that's right." Darbus turned away from Mekial to look at Link. "The man claimed to be a guard of the castle," he began, "Captain Regal Inkert, he said his name was. He said that the Princess wanted him to find you."

At the sound of Zelda's title, Link's face broke into a look of surprise. Had the Princess been told that he had arrived back in Hyrule?

"Did he say why?" was the question that came out of the Hyrulean's mouth instead, one that he found more relative to the conversation.

"No, he did not say," Darbus said slowly, frowning as he tried to remember if the Captain had at all. "But I have heard that the Princess is dealing with some heavy political affairs, as well as the fact that the fields are also infested with those blasted shadow creatures. Perhaps she needs your help with something.

"I also told the captain that you were doing something for us in the mines," the creature went on, "and he said that he would wait down in Kakariko for your return."

"I guess we'll head down there, then," Link said, casting short glances to the others.

"And I will go back into the mines," Darbus added. "Be safe on your way down the mountain."

Link made to turn and leave, however stopped himself and refaced the Goron leader, another question ready to dive out into the open. "You said that you heard of the Princess dealing with heavy 'political affairs'?"

Yes," Darbus answered, his face turning grim and solid. "I have heard...that the country of Hyrule, as well as the countries that surround it, are about to fall into a war. A meaningless one, I might add."

"W-war?" Dijonay blurted out, her eyes widening.

"Apparently, some important leaders from surrounding countries have been killed," Darbus explained, "and some of the countries, specifically Albaan, are blaming us for it. Our relations with that country have never been on good terms...perhaps that is why we were the first that they accused."

"But they can't just declare war on a country without proof that you guys are the ones to blame," Brent put in, frowning. "Can they?"

"An unwise choice, to fight someone without enough reason," Darbus responded. "Yet, Albaan does not exactly have its normal, wiser leaders. They were all killed."

"How many would that be?" was Link's next question.

"I am unsure," was the reply. "And I am also unsure as to how they were killed. But I do believe that our Princess would never hire someone to murder the nobles of another country."

Darbus' firm tone and rigid shoulders gave him a more defensive position, showing that he was fairly loyal to his country and ruler and highly offended at the accusation of the Albaani. Link had to admit that he, too, felt upset at the unreasonable pointing of fingers.

"Such loyalty and trust in your country..." Dijonay uttered softly, gazing at the Goron with a look of admiration and a hint of jealousy. She could not dismiss the fact that she wished that her people could trust in their rulers in the same Darbus did in his.

But, she knew that this could never be: there was far too much racism and hate. Dijonay dropped her eyes from the elder, her eyes downcast with self-deluding.

"That's...admirable," Brent said, him being the only one that had overheard the Prime Minister's comment.

"It is how our entire country feels," Darbus added confidently. "And even if we do go to war, we will stay by our Princess' side and help her in any way that we can."

Unsure as to what to say to Darbus' vocalized feelings of strong loyalty towards his homeland, there was a brief moment of silence, which was eventually broken by Renée speaking an interjection and reaching into her pocket. Knowing what she was doing, Link and Dijonay stepped aside, allowing for Darbus to see what she was about to show him.

"We found this in the mines," Renée started, holding out the red stone to him. "Well, I did, anyway." Darbus took the rock from her and, in his large and calloused hand, it looked more like a tiny pebble. "It's actually...what caused the cave-in."

At this, Darbus lifted his eyes from the rock, flicking his vision to Renée's face before dropping his gaze back to the stone in his palm.

"How did this little thing..."

"It got really hot all of a sudden," Renée began to inform, "and so I threw it and it blew a hole in the wall. I was wondering if you knew what it was.

Darbus lifted the item closer to his sunken eyes, watching the beating of its steady, rhythmic heart. He then handed the stone back to Renée.

"I am unsure as to what that stone is," he said when she took the stone from him. "Where exactly did you find it?"

"In that big cave with all the dead bodies," Renée almost mumbled, feeling embarrassment gather within her again. Darbus did not give a reaction similar to Dijonay's, but he did appear partly surprised.

"In there..." was all that he said. Then, after a short moment of thinking, he said again, "I am unsure as to what it is; I apologize." Renée nodded her understanding. "But if it causes explosions by being roughly thrown at things, I would advise against holding it in your hand. Or pocket," he suddenly added, catching sight of the Arkanian putting the stone into her pocket at that time. Pursing her lips, she removed the rock and instead clutched it in her hand.

"Then where should I put it?" she mumbled quietly.

"Here; I'll hold on to it." Link held out his hand and, after glancing at the pebble, Renée placed it in his palm; he then placed it into his belt pouch and Renée found herself wondering what else he could possibly fit into such a small bag.

"Be careful with that stone," Darbus meaninglessly advised again, though feeling the need to stress it. "And also: if you do wind up seeing the Princess, please, give her my regards."

* * *

By the time the company had reached the village of Kakariko, their muscles were screaming for rest and their bodies begged to collapse. Yet, they pushed themselves, making a note to rest at the village's inn before journeying anywhere else.

Upon reaching the Elde Inn, Link caught sight of a lone horse locked up in the stables built beside the hostel. Boasting a mane of rich black and a sturdy, healthy body, the horse was dressed in royal attire, making it stand out amongst the dusty clothing of the village's inhabitants and simple architecture.

Renée was next to spot the majestic creature. "Nice horse..." she marveled.

"Where?" Mekial followed her eyes. "Oh."

"Is it that captain's?" Katrina wondered aloud, watching as the horse pawed at the ground, presumably searching for some grass in the desolate soil of the community.

"Maybe," Link muttered in reply. "Only one way to find out." He then approached the ramp situated in front of the stables and made his way towards the door of the lodge, opening it and allowing the more hospitable climate of the room to brush against him.

As always, the inn's lobby was not crowded, nor was its small bar area, bearing only a few people at its tables, all of them talking, drinking and clinking tankards of ale together. The bartender could be seen standing behind the counter, cleaning a glass with a pale rag and chuckling at one of the stories that she could overhear the men telling.

Link advanced towards the sign-in desk, where the woman standing there greeted he and the others with a bright smile. "So you're all back, I see," she said. "Feel free to use the same rooms that you used before; they're still open."

"Thanks –"

"Link!"

Link turned at the call of his name. Amongst the few tables of the bar he spotted a man rising, his eyes upon the party, and he approached them, a helmet clutched under his arm. A dark red cape billowed in his wake, attached to the golden shoulder pads that the man wore.

"Are you...Captain Regal?" Link asked, his mind putting two and two together. The man nodded, his bearded face breaking into a small smile, and he reached out and shook Link's hand.

"It has been a while," he began. Confusion fluttered across Link's face, though the captain chose to ignore it and press on. "Perhaps Darbus has already told you that I was here?"

"He did," Link assured. "He said that the Princess sent you for me?"

"Yes," the captain nodded and his face suddenly became very serious, "she did. Though, the request was urgent—she did not give me the details as to why she wanted me to search for you. Though, I suspect that you might have an idea?"

"...Possibly," Link replied, recalling the time he had spoken with the Hyrulean ruler so long ago, beneath the dim lighting of the deserted bar in Castle Town. "We spoke with each other a long time ago—about a few months, by now."

"I see," Regal's eyes did not leave Link's face as he spoke. "If that is the case, then she probably wants to speak with you again."

"I actually wanted to speak with her as well," Link said. "In the few months that we've been apart...a lot of things have happened."

"Mm, I know what you mean," the captain said understandingly. "Ever since those Demonics have shown up, and those giant Holes, things in Hyrule have not been normal. But if you look at our history...when has it ever?"

"Demonics?" Link repeated, frowning along with those behind him.

"You haven't heard?" Regal inquired. "Those black, shadow beasts that roam the fields nowadays. At first they seemed harmless but then they became hostile all of a sudden."

"...Oh." Now Link understood.

"The Holes are also scattered throughout the fields," the captain went on. "The one by Kakariko Gorge is especially large—I never knew that they could get so big."

"From what I've heard they've been appearing all over the place," Link added, glancing to Dijonay, Brent and Renée.

Noticing this, the captain looked to the three as well. "Have they?"

"Y-yeah," Renée affirmed.

"We nearly fell into one back in our country," Brent added.

"Many appear on the roads, as well," Dijonay continued.

"Monsters fall into them, too," Mekial put in, forcing the captain to drop his eyes to him.

"My..." Regal whispered. "And where is it that you come from?" he asked, redirecting his attention towards Brent.

"Arkania," the Hylian replied.

At this, the captain's eyes widened in brief shock. "Arkania?" he repeated breathlessly. "I've heard of that place only through records...I never really imagined that it was still out there somewhere."

"At least you're more lenient about it existing," Brent muttered, thinking of the prejudice of his homeland. "There, they don't even want to believe that Hyrule exists."

"Interesting..." Regal drummed his fingers against the side of his helmet in thought.

"So then, Link, tomorrow we will be heading for the castle?" Dijonay asked the Hyrulean quietly.

"Yeah, we'll leave as soon as we can in the morning," he answered her.

"Then you must know," Regal started, looking the party over beneath a stern, furrowed brow, "that the castle has been the strangest of all places: soldiers have been acting oddly lately, and even our Princess senses unrest among them. If you are to go to the castle, you should be wary of them.

"But I will ride ahead and inform them that you are to be arriving," he guaranteed them. "After telling the Princess this as well, I am sure she would be willing to grant an audience to you. They should let you in."

"Thank you," Link said and the captain shook his head.

"It's the least that I could do," he said modestly. "Well then...I'll set off right now." With that said, he gave a dismissive nod to the party and then exited the inn, the door quietly clicking shut in his wake and locking away the cool, evening air.

As Captain Regal departed, the group ascended the staircase, dispersing into the rooms that they had rented the previous night. Too tired to properly prepare themselves for rest, their aching bodies collapsed upon the beds, their eyelids slamming shut as soon as their heads collided with the soft cushioning of the pillows.

The events of that day had left them at halfway—as far as they knew, they had two shards of what Malbex was searching for, while he had none. The next morning they would start out again, rested and wary. As far as they knew, they were halfway there.

_Halfway..._

Their minds slipped into a steady slumber, the muffled cries of the people in the bar ringing in their ears, and visions and images dancing before their sleeping eyes. Yet, only one could not doze peacefully as these images flashed before her—only one could not find a way to rest easy.

Writhing and squirming upon her bed, Dijonay's eyes were pressed shut as her foresight began to play a part in her dreams, dreams that greatly disturbed the young Governess and caused her to jolt awake with fright.


	48. Chapter 47

**Chapter Forty-Seven**

For some reason, the library seemed fairly quiet that evening.

Though the library always was a quiet place, Zelda reasoned thoughtfully as she opened the grand doors of the castle archive.

She had not visited the main library in a long time—mostly, whenever she was in the mood to read a book, she would simply retrieve one from her study. But she had recently grown tired of always going to her private office to read—it seemed too crowded by official documents and political statements.

This time she had chosen to go to the library merely because it seemed less stressful. Here, she could find a book that focused on any of her favorite subjects without having to spot something diplomatic out of the corner of her eye. Here, she could escape it all.

As soon as there was enough room between them, Zelda shimmied her way through the tall double doors of the library then closed them behind her, then suddenly felt very small. But this was to be expected: the library was a large room with a tall, arched ceiling that bore the detailed paintings of different kinds of scenery, possibly from different scenes in the books that lay below.

Rows of bookshelves evenly lined the wide, marble floors of the archive, each made with a strong and dark wood that was smooth to the touch. Tall glass windows were pressed into the smooth-faced, mineral walls, granting a majestic view of the evening sun, and a long, dark blue carpet spanned the distance from the library doors to the opposite end of the room.

Said doors clicked loudly as Zelda shut them, the sound bouncing off of the beautiful walls and bumping around the arched ceiling. Though it was a simple and old action, it still managed to make the princess pause with wonder.

_Click…_

She could imagine all of the books in the room, each one a small piece of a large collection.

_Click…_

She could picture the tables on the other end of the library: stable, stiff and silent, waiting for her to seat herself at one of their chairs and read.

_Click…_

She could see the pages of the books guiding her eyes with their descriptive words and feel them filling her mind with detailed scenery.

_Click..._

Empty.

_Click…_

Silent.

_Click…_

Escape.

Zelda let out a dark sigh and took her first step away from the doors, the silent atmosphere being abruptly broken by her hollow footsteps. With a bleak expression, the young ruler began to tread across the rug, her head slightly drooped and her eyebrows puckered.

It was not until she had found herself bumping into one of the legs of a table did she shake herself out of her troubled thoughts, blinking and staring down at the piece of furniture in surprise. Her face then fell and she slid one of the chairs back in order to seat herself in it.

Even though she had come to this quiet place in hope that she could escape her thoughts, Zelda found that she had instead brought them with her. How could she relax in a room this quiet with a mind so cluttered and unfocused? She should have gone somewhere louder…somewhere that would be so loud that she would not be able to think about what was bothering her.

And what had been bothering her had been doing so for such a long time now: it had started when she had first dismissed Link from Hyrule and had grown even more when she had sent out Captain Regal to see if the young Ordonian had returned. Still it grew when reports of the Demonics and Holes had begun to come to her attention.

And what had been bothering her, specifically, was guilt.

Zelda shook her head and brought a hand to her forehead. She had to stop that. She had to stop reminding herself of what was troubling her; else she would never be able to find rest.

She had to distract herself somehow. She needed something interesting to keep her attention, for that was why she had visited the library, was it not?

She rose from her seat and began to approach a nearby bookcase, caring not for the kind of books that it held but rather caring more for whether or not it held a book that could hold her attention. Reading each title with a judgmental demeanor, she began her search for some sort of entertaining work of literature. Up and down the shelves she browsed and, finding nothing, she chose to move on to the next case.

Surprisingly enough, merely searching for a book managed to keep Zelda off of her worried thoughts. Though, occasionally she would come across a book title that reminded her of a forest, which would in turn remind her of Link and how he had been gone for months.

But she would then see something else that would seem even more interesting, thus distracting her from her nagging ideas. Once, the same dilemma occurred when she came across a bookcase known for its historical projects, which reminded Zelda of the political issues that her country was facing.

As such, she decided that she should try to find a book under a certain genre that she barely liked: fantasy.

Even though fantasy novels were nothing more than writers and their amazingly spontaneous or unique imaginations, Zelda figured that it would somehow help with averting her attention from governmental issues. After all, when focused on another realm filled with legends and myths, how could one pay attention to reality?

Just as she was about to enter the aisle of the dreaded fictional section, there came an ear-splitting screech from the tall, double-doors of the library. Having frozen with brief surprise in the very center of the room, Zelda composed herself just as the library's entrance was opened.

Poking her head in between the doors before fully stepping into the room, a young servant girl appeared, her bright green eyes almost instantly fixing themselves upon Zelda, who stood only a few feet away. Upon seeing her, the servant jumped and then held a hand against her chest, as though to keep her heart from leaping out.

"O-Oh! Princess, I-I was not entirely expecting to see you here…" Her voice was high and soft, yet managed to echo throughout the colossal room anyway. "I…I was looking for you, actually…"

"Oh?" Though Zelda was interested in why she was being sought out, a part of her dreaded the answer.

"Y-Yes…" Nervously the girl twisted her fingers into her apron. "A…Ambassador Aleen Vitel—y-your meeting with her, I mean—I was sent to remind you of it…"

Her voice trailed off with a hint of reproach then, causing Zelda to frown. Then, casting the thought of the girl's tone of voice aside, she began to try and recall who Aleen Vitel was.

_Oh, right._

The previous night, during the terrible rainstorm that central Hyrule had been covered with, a small group of guards had found Zelda and requested that she accompany them to the castle's entrance hall. There, she had been introduced to Aleen Vitel, an ambassador from Lumbrea.

Her long black hair plastered against her tall and lean body and her eyes bearing dark circles beneath them, the young woman looked as though she had just completed a long and tiring journey. She had asked that Zelda speak with her about the conditions of Lumbrea and the affect that Demonics were having upon it but Zelda, in her unwillingness to discuss such a topic, had ordered for a room to be prepared for the weary traveler and a time be allotted for the two to have a proper meeting the next day.

Thinking back on it now, Zelda wondered if she would be that much freer from her wearisome thoughts if she had met with Aleen when she had first arrived.

"It had been scheduled for this evening…" Zelda murmured, more to herself as though to jog her memory even more.

"Y-yes…" The servant nodded in assent.

"I see. Then, please take me to the room that we are to be meeting in," Zelda said, her voice as emotionless as her expression. "The preparations having been made by someone else, I am unaware as to the specific conditions of this meeting."

"Y-yes, your Highness," the girl said softly, turning to face the exit and stepping out into the hall. Zelda followed her, shutting the doors of the library before she carried on to trail after her servant in the direction of the reserved meeting room.

In silence the two walked, side by side, neither turning to look to the other nor attempting to strike up some form of conversation. Zelda was used to having this sort of thing happen around her while she was with her servants: she never had made to establish an actual relationship with them. The only times that she spoke with them was when it was necessary.

Suddenly realizing this, Zelda thought that perhaps trying to form a friendly bond between her humble workers would be a good thing. Perhaps it would even help her deal with the odd actions of her soldiers in some sort of way.

Firmly set in this, Zelda turned towards the young servant and opened her mouth to address her. But she stopped.

The servant girl's eyes…such sadness was in those eyes, such guilt and anxiety.

"What's wrong?" Zelda's voice cut through the thick silence of the hallway, causing the servant to start. Her once distant eyes focused upon the face of the ruler beside her and her lips parted soundlessly. By now, Zelda had turned to look in the direction that the corridor was leading, but had briefly glanced down to the servant upon noticing that she was staring at her. "You look troubled."

"Oh, I-I…" The girl nearly squeaked out her words while crinkling her brow and turning her eyes to the window-lined walls. "I-I was just…thinking."

"Oh?" Conversing with servants was not as hard as she thought it was. "What of?"

"…N-nothing…" A flash of pink shot through the servant girl's cheeks and her voice softened to almost a whisper, "Nothing at all, Your Highness…"

Zelda cast the girl a sympathetic, sideways glance.

"You know…" she started, her pace slowing slightly. Beside her, the servant also began to walk at a steadier pace, the sound of her once scurrying footsteps now sounding like quiet padding against the hallway's fine rug. "I have been dealing with some troubling thoughts as well."

The girl looked up at her, her child-like eyes showing some form of genuine curiosity.

Zelda passed her a small smile before continuing: "And it's difficult to go through life while having to deal with thoughts such as those. I…believe that we should both try to find some way to empty ourselves of them. So that we can enjoy the life that the goddesses have blessed us with." She was about to smile again when she realized that the girl was now staring at her with her mouth hanging open.

"P-Princess…you…believe in the goddesses?" Zelda blinked, taken aback at the sudden change of subject before she nodded.

The servant dropped her eyes to the floor and then looked out the window again, her bright eyes reflecting the image of the falling sun.

"I've always questioned their existence," she said a while later. Zelda looked at her.

"The goddesses, you mean?"

"O-oh…yes," the girl nodded and glanced at Zelda, her face apologetic. "I'm sorry—I should have been more clear."

"No. It's all right."

The girl bit her lip.

"I'm…Layla," she said when the two had come to the head of a staircase that led to the castle's first floor. "A-and…I…work near the kitchens. I-I'm new though, so I don't really do much but sweep." The two descended a few steps. "…And mop."

"You don't like mopping?" Zelda inquired curiously, taking note of the underlying embarrassment in the girl's voice.

Layla blushed. "I-It's not that I don't like it, it's just…I've never really been that good at it. Last time I did it, I used too much water and the woman in charge of kitchen cleaning slipped and fell…"

Zelda instantly recalled the name of the woman Layla was speaking of. In her senior ages, Olivia was cranky, strict and loud. Although she could occasionally be annoying, Zelda found that her firmness was somewhat good for new servants. Besides, the woman was not all bad: there were times when she was cheerful.

"Well, you have no need to worry about it," Zelda offered. "You have potential—you'll get better."

Layla gave a sheepish smile. "Th-thanks…"

Silence settled over the pair again, this time lasting as they ventured through a number of connecting passages and corridors until they finally entered a short passage that lead to the doors of the ballroom. Layla guided Zelda to another door that was close by and the first thing that the princess noticed was that it was guarded.

"Here she comes," she heard one of the soldiers say as she came into their view. As Zelda slowed to a halt before them, the two guards straightened their positions and held their heads just a bit higher.

"Good evening, Your Highness," the one on the right greeted. Zelda merely nodded to him.

"Captain Geoffrey requested that the two of us guard these doors while you meet with the ambassador, Princess," the second added.

Zelda stared at him for a brief moment before she gave another curt nod, figuring that, just like her, the guards were not sure if Aleen truly was who she claimed to be. Since she had arrived on short notice and without a letter signed and sealed by the one that had sent her, it was only normal for the soldiers of Hyrule to take precautions while around her. Merely knowing that some of the soldiers still cared for their ruler made Zelda feel a bit more at ease.

Yet, she still could not entirely dismiss her doubts about them.

"Miss Vitel is waiting for you inside, Princess," the guard went on. "Be safe."

"…Yes," Zelda finally found her voice. "Thank you for your concern." She looked down to Layla, catching sight of the girl's depressed look before she ordered for her to be dismissed.

Sniffing and bowing, Layla obeyed, hurrying out of the hall in the direction that she had come and all the while her orange hair bouncing upon her shoulders with her pressurized steps.

Zelda thought she heard the girl apologize softly as she left, though, the princess dismissed it as her ears playing tricks on her.

Zelda allowed herself to frown after the girl until she had turned a corner and then she faced the door of the meeting room. Taking a deep breath, she reached forward and closed her hand around the cold, brass handle of the door.

Almost reluctantly, she twisted the knob and pushed the door inward, the sound of the movable barrier creaking open sounding twice as loud and annoying than it normally should be. Once inside, she shut the door behind her.

The room selected for Zelda and Aleen's conference was small, though most of the offices located by the ballroom were. A dark wood table was situated in the very center of the room, its four thin but sturdy legs standing upon a decorative rug that took up most of the floor. Six chairs were stationed around the centered piece of furniture; two being on either side while one was placed at each head. On both sides of the table a matching shelf was located, one completely empty and the other almost empty save the small pile of parchment located on its uppermost shelf.

Directly across from the door and located beyond the table was a single window made of glass, granting a wondrous view of the castle's backfields. Standing before this window and receiving a glowing outline because of the setting sun's colors stood a tall woman, her back turned to the princess and her head tilted down as she looked to the land below. Upon hearing the door open, the woman turned and it took Zelda a few seconds before she recognized her.

Unlike their first encounter, Aleen looked a bit more groomed that evening. Her hair was no longer drenched and had dried, regaining its full thickness and volume and Zelda noticed that she even had curls at the ends. Her once pale skin was now slightly pinker and her eyes looked less sunken in, adding to her more lively appearance. She gave a small smile to the Hyrulean princess when she entered the room and fully turned, placing a hand upon the chair closest to her.

"It's a pleasure to be able to speak with you, Your Majesty," Aleen started and she pulled the chair back just a bit, indicating that she intended to sit in it.

"The pleasure is all mine," Zelda replied courteously, pulling back the chair at the table's opposite end. Then, feeling a sudden stab of guilt, she added, "I apologize for not meeting with you sooner."

"Not at all," Aleen replied, shaking her head. "It gave me some time to get myself in order."

Zelda gave a small nod before she seated herself in the chair and, choosing to be respectful, Aleen did the same, folding her hands upon the table's smooth face in front of her. She stared at her hands for a moment, as though figuring out what she wanted to say, then lifted her eyes to the princess, her black eyes like pointed daggers.

"You claim to be an ambassador, is that correct?" Zelda started, attempting to ignore the way the woman was staring at her.

"Yes," was Aleen's brisk response, her entire posture as tense as her glare, which darkened as a small smile crept across her face. Shivers of discomfort traveled up and down Zelda's spine, causing her to shift in her chair. "...That was my claim. But now that we're alone...games are no longer necessary."

Zelda's eyebrows drew closer together, her face showing explicit perplexity. "Excuse me?"

"We're alone." The once peaceful air that had radiated off of Aleen was now gone, having been replaced with a tone of hostility and contempt. As the woman rose to her feet a glint appeared in her eyes, revolving around her irises. "There are no more games." The color of her black eyes brightened, becoming a fiery red.

Zelda shot to her feet, rising with such force that her seat clattered to the floor. Aleen appeared uninterested by Zelda's sudden anxiety, though her steadfast smirk revealed that she had noticed it.

"You are no longer in control here," she stated, her voice low and rippling with authority. Zelda suddenly felt light-headed.

"What?"

"You're being denounced, Princess Zelda," Aleen went on. "And there is no one that will help you." She raised her right hand and held it out to the side, as though she were beckoning for someone. "Not your soldiers." Zelda felt her stomach flop. "Not your people." There came the sound of a footstep from behind the bookcase that Aleen was holding a hand out to and a man came into view, his emotionless blue eyes locking upon the princess. "Not even your so-called 'hero'."

Link's golden-brown hair glowed in the amber light of the sunset as he walked into the open, his handsome and youthful face unmatched by the famous but worn green tunic that he wore.

With ever step that his dirty, booted feet made upon the floor, Zelda felt as though someone were striking her pride. When the Ordonian had stopped walking, positioning himself only a few paces away from the bookcase, Zelda could not figure out what she wanted to say first. Her body trembling, she swallowed to moisten her throat and cast a quick glance at Aleen's piercing red eyes.

"I-I...wh-what...what is the meaning of this?" Hopefully, she looked at Link. "Why...why are you...? Weren't you...? I told you to..." Her voice was choked off by a sob that she could not identify a cause for.

"He's had a change of heart," Aleen said calmly and, through eyes blurred by tears, Zelda glared at her. "Just like your guards. Speaking of which... Guards!"

Behind Zelda, the door of the office was slammed open and the two soldiers that had been stationed at the door entered, each firmly grabbing one of Zelda's arms with so much force that she thought they would instantly go numb.

Too confused to even try and struggle, Zelda merely looked back to Link, her eyes pleading. "Lock her in her chambers," Aleen ordered flatly. "Guard her doors. Make sure she doesn't escape."

Nodding stiffly, the soldiers began to drag Zelda away. Though, just before she was forced to turn around, she caught Link's eye—still stoic.

* * *

"_Forgive me, Princess."_

That's what Layla had said when she had been dismissed.

_"Forgive me..."_

She had known. She had known what she was doing...and she had done it anyway. She had even begged for _forgiveness._

"Forgiveness." Zelda spat the word out, her hands balling into fists. There was no such thing as a reward for betrayal.

She had no forgiveness to give to anyone—not to her soldiers, not to Layla...not even to Link.

Zelda still could not believe that the man had turned his back on her. What had she done to deserve that from him? What had she done to deserve betrayal from anyone?

Tightening her eyes in order to block the fresh wave of tears that threatened to spill down her face, Zelda grabbed fistfuls of her quilt. Her teeth firmly and visibly clenched, she struggled to maintain control over her emotions, over her shattered spirit.

A quiet voice reminded her that she was in her room, behind a locked door, and so she was allowed to release the tears. But Zelda ignored the voice, for a thought more powerful had reminded her that two of her soldiers were standing guard at her door. No matter what, she would not allow them to overhear her crumble.

Zelda took a deep, shuddering breath and then gradually released her blankets. She then tilted her head upwards and inhaled deeply again, closing her eyes as the air she had taken in worked to clear her mind. The water building up behind her eyelids finally began to cease and the lump in her throat began to disappear.

Now stable, Zelda rose from her seat on her bedside, suddenly recalling the words that Aleen had spoken to her in the office: _you're being denounced._

If Aleen was 'denouncing' Zelda, as she called it, then that could only mean that she intended to take her place as Hyrule's ruler. The mere thought of Aleen doing such a thing made the princess' blood run cold. She could recount many times Hyrule had been overthrown by an usurper hand, only to have a series of tragic events follow after.

Why, she could even think of an example that had happened only a year ago: the day Zant had broken into her throne room, demanding for her to surrender. Not even a day later, nearly the entire kingdom of Hyrule had been encased in twilight, its inhabitants becoming spirits. Although the shield that Zant had cast on the inside of the castle had protected Zelda, she had still been mentally wounded by the state of affairs that had overcome her homeland.

Though, thinking back on it now, Zelda remembered that there was nothing that she could have done—despite how much she did not wish to admit it, this was the truth. For if she had chosen to fight back, she and hundreds of other countrymen would have been harmed. And when Zelda had chosen to give in, Zant had sworn that no one would be harmed.

And he had kept his promise.

Now, a year later, almost the same predicament was happening again. Zelda rubbed her eyes with her fingers while bowing her head at this horrible news, then froze.

_Almost_ the same.

Heart pumping rivers of adrenaline through her body, Zelda leaped for her wardrobe before she could stop herself. Her hands rummaged around the clothing she had placed in there, her fingers fumbling over dresses, skirts and blouses until she came across a small collection of less formal wear. Without pausing, she tore the dark leggings and tunic out of her closet and immediately began to dress herself in them.

When finished she began to search her room for a warm traveling cloak, all the while tying her hair into a bun. Although the result was something far below that of which a skilled stylist could do, Zelda did not really care—especially when she finally laid eyes on her old cloak, which was located in its small box.

As she draped the clothing over her shoulders her eyes searched the room for her boots. She found one, noticeably forsaken by her dresser, and stuffed it on her bare foot, biting back a growl of frustration when she could not find the other. Maintaining control over herself, Zelda began an all-out search of her room for her other boot. In the end, she found it under the bed.

Once equipping it, Zelda made her way to the door of her bedroom, and suddenly paused as she realized what she was about to do. To clear her fears she took a deep breath - slow and steady.

She waited a few seconds, her eyes closed and a hand placed over her heart as if she were trying to keep it from bursting out of her chest. When her pulse had died to a rhythm that was remotely normal she opened her eyes, determination burning within them.

Without allowing her anxiety to return, Zelda held up a hand, aiming her palm towards her door. A small and brief tingling sensation was felt upon the back of her hand, causing her fingers to twitch, and she caught sight of a faint golden light before it abruptly faded. Not too soon after this, she felt her palm grow warm and prickly: a familiar but old feeling.

There was a short moment of a ringing and tense silence where Zelda's hand felt normal, and then an orange light appeared in her palm, igniting into flames and consuming her bedchamber's door with a deafening and roaring explosion.

Metal crashed onto stone on the opposite end of her shattered and splintered door and the raspy gasps of the two guards floated to Zelda's ears. Just above their cries of shock came the sound of something rolling, presumably their lances speeding away due to the wind of the explosion.

The first step of her new plan having been taken, she could no longer feel any form of worry. Now, her face was matchless in indignation and she stepped through her broken doorframe, her silhouette emerging from the smoke of her spell like a black ghost. As she appeared to the soldiers, who were covered with soot and bleeding scratches, she dropped her eyes to them.

"W-what are you doing?!" One of the officers finally managed to find his voice, though it cracked and he coughed as he inhaled a lungful of smoke.

"Fighting back," Zelda answered flatly and she turned, making her way down the long corridor in the direction of the staircase. Her foot brushed against a lance and, to release some of her anger, she kicked it, sending it spiraling towards a vase table located near the end of the passageway.

The resounding clank that the weapon made as it crashed into the furniture was suddenly overrun by the sound of metal feet clapping against the floor.

At first the footsteps sounded distant but then quickly grew louder; bristly fingers brushed against the back of Zelda's neck and she whipped around just in time to see the two officers rushing towards her.

Narrowing her once widened eyes, Zelda grabbed her right bicep, allowing a ticklish and tingly sense to run up and down her entire arm. When the feeling gathered in her hand, sparks began to fly from her fingertips, growing in brightness until they concealed her entire hand.

Just before she thrust her hand forward she spotted the soldiers' eyes dilate—but this did not make her hesitate.

With a vengeful roar that scratched her throat, Zelda lodged her illuminated palm into one of the officers' gut, pushing out as much magic as she could.

The soldier's entire upper body lunged forward and his feet left the ground when Zelda hit him, his eyes bulging, and then he flew backward, landing on the ground with a heavy grunt and then sliding through the remains of her recently defeated door.

The second soldier, having been momentarily stunned by Zelda's sudden ferociousness, hesitated in his attack, giving the princess a chance to hold her hands in front of him, waving them around as she gathered the air that hung around him.

Once she had collected enough of it, she held her hands still and then flexed her fingers, causing the soldier's feet to swing out from beneath him. Wailing and flailing as he was lifted higher into the air, the guard attempted to break free; even Zelda was surprised when she discovered that she was struggling to keep the man afloat.

Finally tired of his struggling she turned around, hurling her arms in the same direction with her culprit following. Wailing, the man sailed over her head and collided with the wall with a sickening crack. His entire body seemed to ripple with the force of the impact before he leadenly fell to the floor with a slurred groan.

Panting, Zelda stared at the soldier's fallen body and then turned to look to the other.

Then, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her eye, she broke into a run, sprinting down the hallway and then hopping down the spiral staircase two steps at a time. She could do this.

She could regain her castle before anything else bad happened. She could save her people—she could do it and make up for her past regrets.

After all, no promises had been made.


	49. Chapter 48

**Chapter Forty-Eight**

Zelda felt as though a new strength was bubbling within her, one that would allow her to do anything, defeat anyone. No one could stop her from charging through the corridors of her castle, battling and subduing any soldier that she ran into; no amount of weariness could overtake her; no amount of fear could cause her to hesitate in her battle for freedom.

But never before had she exerted so much magic in one night: just as she would defeat one soldier in a hallway, she would move on only to run into another pair of soldiers and thus be forced to brawl with them as well. Though it was tiring, she would not allow herself to be overthrown by her weariness and take a break. She had to continue, for there was the possibility of her being overthrown if she showed weakness.

Presently Zelda finished off probably the twelfth soldier that she had run into that night and then hopped over his still body, jogging towards the tall doors at the end of the hall. Throwing them open, she found herself standing upon a balcony of the second floor with a view of the castle's entrance hall.

Dropping her eyes to this familiar part of her home, Zelda noticed that about a handful of soldiers were down there patrolling. Although she could probably defeat them with the same amount of ease that she had defeated her previous enemies, she chose not to find a way to do so.

Instead, the Hylian noble turned to the right and hotfooted along the balcony, her cloak flapping in her wake and her light and hurried footsteps making the smallest of taps against the smooth floor. At the end of the platform she came across another set of doors and, opening them as quietly as she could, she stepped into the room beyond them.

Here she came across a set of narrow and spiraling stairs and, without a second thought, she began to descend them, careful not to trip over the hem of her traveling coat or miss a step. At the bottom of the staircase there was a single wooden door and Zelda pressed all of her weight into it in order to push it open.

The strain on her face as she did this was caught by the flickering lights of the torches nestled on either side of the barrier, their crackles and pops mocking her and her small amount of strength. Then, with one last budge and a verbal outcry, Zelda opened the door just enough for her small body to squeeze through—behind her, she heard the torchlight snap with surprise.

Disregarding the now open door to her rear, Zelda turned to the left, following the low-ceilinged and dark hallway in the direction of the ballroom chamber. When the dance hall's tall and glorious doors came within her view, she veered further to her left, counting the doors that she passed until she came to the one that she had been searching for. Gathering her courage, she approached it.

As soon as Zelda placed a hand upon the doorknob though, fear, dread and worry came flooding back into her systems as if they had never left. Her head throbbed as all of her troubles and hurts came rushing back to her with whitewater force and she gasped, tearing her hand away from the door handle as though it had caught on fire.

Sucking back a small cry, Zelda placed a hand upon her chest and closed her eyes. Each beat of her heart pressed itself against her palm with the force of a drum, pumping so much blood that she could hear it in her ears. Her own panting seemed to resound throughout the hall and ring in her ears, harmonizing with her blood, and she began to feel herself shaking.

Clenching her teeth and furrowing her brow, Zelda attempted to regain control and reseal herself behind a calm composure. Deeply she inhaled, slowly she exhaled, and steadier her heartbeat became. Though her worries still remained lodged somewhere in her mind, she forced herself to not give full attention to them. Slowly her quivering began to subside and with one last, shuddering breath, Zelda opened her eyes, instantly dropping them to the brass handle of the office.

With caution, she removed her hand from her chest and wrapped her fingers around the spherical handle, feeling a shiver run up her spine when the cold metal touched her bare, clammy skin. She pressed her lips together and then flicked her wrist, twisting the doorknob to the side so roughly that she barely heard it click.

Open now.

With a light push, Zelda moved the door inward, swallowing and her mind already apprehending what she was about to see. Before her eyes flashed the image of the woman's demonic red eyes that contrasted against her pale skin, and Zelda's heart lurched with fright.

But when she had finally opened the door all the way, she realized that she was alone.

The bright light of the full moon flooded through the office's single window, reflecting upon the smooth surface of the dark table and illuminating Zelda's stunned face.

_Not here._

Zelda looked to the bookcase that she had seen the traitorous Ordonian appear from and then advanced towards it, circling to its other side as if she were expecting to find him there, again waiting for Aleen's cue for him to step out.

_Not here._

Although she was partly glad, the rest of her was disappointed that she had not found the pair. Though, she did see herself as rather foolish: why would the two remain in this room, anyway?

They had to be somewhere else in the castle, but where?

Zelda ran a hand through her slightly undone hair and bit back a groan, then took a few steps to her right until she was standing in the place that Aleen had stood in when she had claimed her overthrow of Hyrule Castle. She then peeked out the window and dropped her eyes to the scenery below and then gasped so loudly that she whipped around to face the open door, expecting some passerby to have overheard her.

Though seeing nothing, Zelda quickly returned her gaze to what she had just seen, pressing her hands against the windowpanes and leaning forward to get a better view.

Far below her, walking upon a stoned path that sidled around the sloping hill that was located on this side of the castle, was Link. His posture straight and his head held high, he walked as though he was of high ranking and authority; the thought nearly made Zelda laugh aloud.

Perhaps if she caught him she could get him to answer some questions for her. Perhaps he could tell her why Aleen was doing what she was doing and why she had tricked her way into the castle. Perhaps he would even be willing to explain why he had decided to side against her and the entire kingdom.

Deciding that this was her best plan, Zelda began to search the area around Link for any kind of hiding place that she could warp herself to. Although it was further behind him, the princess spotted a small mass of foliage located off to the side of the walkway and forming a clear image of it in her mind, she lifted her arms into the air and began to perform her spell, a familiar and tingling sensation appearing on the back of her right hand.

A gentle breeze began to blow around her ankles, coiling around her legs and rising to her chest until it circled around her head, and it tickled her face by causing wisps of hair to brush against her cheeks. A faint green light began to appear between her raised hands, brightening until it had grown large enough to encase her entire body.

Slowly, Zelda's feet inched off the ground and her body began to twirl; she could hear her cloak flapping wildly behind her, slapping against the back of her legs and she could feel her head begin to spin.

And then, everything became solid and still once more and she was being lowered to the ground, the fresh evening air caressing her face and the softness of leaves brushing against her neck. When she opened her eyes, she was looking at the outer shell of her highly esteemed castle and the walkway that she had once been looking down to was now only a few yards out of her reach.

Her eyes followed this pathway until they finally rested upon the figure of Link, causing her heart to skip a beat with surprise. By now he was nearly at an arched stone doorway at the end of the path, its shadows slowly enclosing him.

Knowing that this was probably her only chance at finding out the truth, Zelda leaped to her feet and hurried towards him, having never known that her legs could move so quickly. Yet, even as she ran, she could hear a door creaking open and see his faint outline stepping into a doorway...

"Link!"

But before she had managed to even get half of his name out, she heard the door slam shut. Nevertheless, Zelda continued to run until she had reached the door, slamming herself and banging on it and calling Link's name, hoping that he would hear her. But there came no sound of a response.

Biting her lip, Zelda looked around and then returned to the courtyard she had exited, following along the stoned wall of the passage that Link had entered. Whenever she came across a window she would leap up in order to peek into it, each time catching glimpses of Link's form walking along a rug that spanned the length of the corridor.

Then abruptly and to her dismay, Zelda leaped and bumped into a wall, ending her stalk of the Hyrulean. Rubbing her nose and yet unwilling to give in, the princess began to search for another way to find the hero, her eyes resting upon a tree that was not too far away.

Rather than climb it, she warped herself to one of its thickest and sturdiest branches, leaning over its edge, which was conveniently located close to the last window that she had tried to look through.

On the other side of the glass panes, Link could be seen, descending a few carpeted stairs before stepping into a circular area situated at the end of the corridor.

Zelda leaned forward in order to see the room in full detail, instantly recognizing it as the war council room. Frowning, she inched forward on the branch, immediately halting when she felt that she had reached the tree limb's end. Although she only had a decent view of half of the council room, she decided to settle for it.

Unaware of her watching eyes, Link looked around the dome-shaped chamber, eying each of the men inside with a look of disdain. He knew none of them, of course, but was aware that they were generals of the Hyrulean army and that they were the ones that Alexandria had told him to try and convert.

Each of the generals were situated behind a long, circular desk that revolved around the entire room, save the small space that Link had just entered through. Each desk was also located one stair higher than the last, thus granting each high-ranking soldier a perfect view of the single man that stood in the very center of the room, looking up to them.

"You're late," one of them grunted, his name being Ison. He was aging, with a thick gray beard and a head of graying hair. Wrinkles formed upon wrinkles as he glared at Link with a deep frown, his fuzzy eyebrows nearly hiding his squinted eyes from view.

"Surely it's fine for the one who called for the meeting to be late?" Link responded coolly, a smirk passing over his face. "After all, it can't start without him."

None of the generals made to respond to this and so Link cleared his throat and chose to continue.

"I guess I'll start off by changing back," he said quietly, though his voice carried through the room anyway, sparking confusion in the minds of the army men. "After all, who can walk around looking like this goody-goody all day?"

Then, before the eyes of the council, Link's hair brightened and grew, tendrils of white snaking down to his mid-back and falling across his shoulders with silky and smooth grace. His eyes, once a beautiful shade of blue obtained a spark of red, which then bled over his irises like a blanket. His jaw lengthened, his skin paled and his bones stretched until he was at least a foot and a half taller than he had been before.

Zelda nearly fell out of her tree.

"Y-you're just like _her_!" burst out another general, leaping to his feet and his dark eyes widening. "That Alexandria that I keep hearing of! A _Fenri_!"

The man nodded, his thin lips stretching into a smile. "Yes, that's what I am," he returned calmly. "Though I prefer the name Tentra."

"Tentra," laughed another chief, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. "What a _girly _name."

"Where I'm from, it's a popular name amongst boys," Tentra said evenly. The man continued to laugh anyway.

"Enough, General Bourke," barked Ison. The man, Bourke, stifled another laugh and sat up straighter in his chair, putting on a face of grimness that matched that of the other Hyruleans in the room. "Excuse him," the senior went on, turning his attention back to the foreigner. "He's new." Bourke shot him a look.

"More than I can say for you, General Graybeard."

"Confound it, Bourke, if you don't learn how to hold your blasted tongue—"

"Now, now, is there really a need for this sort of behavior?" Tentra interrupted. "It gives a bad impression on your part."

"Blasted kid," the graying general mumbled, shifting in his chair before returning his disgruntled eyes to Tentra.

"Please disregard what you just heard," came the voice of a third man from the right side of the room. He was General Falon and appeared to be between the ages of Bourke and Ison, with his dark brown hair and single gray streak that shot through his beard.

His elbows resting on his part of the desk and his hands laced in front of him, he waited until Tentra located the source of the voice as him. "I propose we get back to the subject at hand. Now, Tentra: you should know that we only met with you in order to avoid any kind of strife that may arise. You and your female partner did, after all, cause a sort of uproar amongst the soldiers."

"And I appreciate your deciding to comply and come to this meeting," Tentra continued, dragging his eyes across the many faces that lined the desks around the room, "even though it was on such short notice." A smile flickered over his face.

"I want an explanation from you, Tentra," came the booming voice of General Alan. "Who are you? And who is that woman that came with you?"

"Oh, her?" Tentra chuckled. "You mean the red eyes didn't give it away?" There was silence in the council until Tentra chose to continue. "Her name is Alexandria Ruheart; you might remember her from that court trial from so long ago." A collective gasp ran through the room and one of the men slightly lifted himself from his chair.

"R-Ruheart?!" he stammered, his eyes wide. "Princess Zelda had us commence a country-wide search for that woman...why would she be here now?"

"Well, she's been with me from the very beginning," Tentra started, but he was interrupted by a another voice.

"You mean to say that you were the one that had her frame the Princess that time?"

"No," Tentra said evenly, not bothering to look for who had cut his previous speech short. "I didn't order her to do that. A man by the name of Malbex Zenor did."

"Malbex Zenor?" repeated Ison, stroking his thick beard. "Who is that?"

"The prince of our country," Tentra answered. "Well, one, anyway. But the other is not very important at this time. This Malbex fellow is actually the one directing all of this: this seize of Hyrule Castle, for instance. As well as the unfortunate and untimely deaths of the rulers of some neighboring countries. Even the real ambassador of Lumbrea was taken down by us, and we used her story to get Alexandria inside."

"So then this ambassador Aleen that I was told was here since last night...is really Alexandria," Falon muttered, his expression thoughtful. "Where is she now?"

Tentra shrugged. "Probably on her way to the Princess' chambers."

"The Princess..." Bourke's crystal blue eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked down to Tentra. "The last I saw her, Princess Zelda was being escorted from the library by a servant girl. Where is she now?"

"Under house-arrest."

"What?!"

A bubbling tension had boiled over in the room, drowning the generals' spirits but leaving Tentra to breathe in its heavy vapors.

"Yes," he went on, nodding as though it made perfect sense. "Princess Zelda is presently locked in her chambers. I suspect that very soon Alexandria will have her taken to Malbex."

"Why would she do that?" Alan growled.

"Well, because Malbex needs her of course," Tentra explained. "Specifically what dwells within her." At this, Alan's eyes widened with realization.

"Y-you mean..."

An eerie smile spread across the foreigner's face. "Yes: the Triforce of Wisdom that uses her body as a host. He needs it."

"You make it sound like a parasite," Bourke said, frowning.

"That's because, in his eyes, the Triforce is a parasite inside of her." Tentra's eyes gleamed with amusement. "And it will be removed like one." A brief cry of shock then sounded throughout the chamber, having rumbled from the chest of Ison.

"He can't!" he shouted. "Doing that will—"

"Oh, he's aware." The smile did not look as though it was planning on leaving Tentra's face. "And he doesn't care. He needs her out of the way, in any case." Ison's face turned a dark shade of red as he seethed and he banged a fist upon his desk and leaned forward, cursing.

"Your man is mad!" he thundered. "Does he want to start a war? Does he want the world to fall into destruction? Killing off the leaders of countries just to get what he wants—he's insane!"

"Please, do not insult my prince," Tentra's voice, though softer, contained the same amount of venom that filled Ison's. "I can assure you that he is fully aware of what he is doing."

"Whatever he's planning, it's over now." Falon rose from his seat, his once calm expression having previously broken into a look of pure anger. "Thank you for telling us your prince's plans. But don't expect to be able to watch it be fulfilled: by the power vested in me as a general, I order you under arrest, Tentra."

At first, Tentra looked mildly surprised at this sudden claim. But then his face was split by another smile and he gave a light and knowing laugh. "Are you really sure that you want to be doing that?" he inquired softly. Falon only stared at him, as did the rest of the council. "Perhaps you should know that I am a very important acquaintance of Prince Malbex...should he find out that I am behind bars, not only will he be angry with you—and me, for getting locked up—but he will make sure that the Princess goes through a long period of torment before he extracts her Triforce.

"Do you really want to have that happen on your account?"

To the surprise of the entire council, Falon hesitated. His fists clenched by his sides and he stared at Tentra, as though searching his face for any sign to show that he was bluffing. But Tentra's eyes remained steadfast upon him, his narrow red eyes almost looking into his mind and showing him that the general was leaning towards taking his sentence back.

"Don't believe him, Falon!" Bourke blurted out, turning to look at him. "He's probably just trying to bluff his way out of trouble." As he said this, he returned his eyes to Tentra. "Even if he isn't, we'll make sure that the Princess isn't hurt. Or taken away at all, for that matter. We can just lock him up and then beat that Alexandria girl off the castle grounds before she can do anything. Shouldn't be too hard."

Tentra huffed. "You'd be surprised. Do you really think that Alexandria and I are alone in this?" A pause. "More than half of your soldiers have already decided to join sides with us—"

"Then they're spineless weaklings," Bourke said automatically. "We'll kick their –", he cursed, "– too." At this, even Tentra was speechless, which caused Bourke's lips to tug upwards with a smirk. "We're not about to betray the Princess by being cowardly like them. I mean, c'mon: we're the Hyrulean Generals for Din's sake! Do you really think you could trick us like you did them?"

"General Bourke is correct," Ison said, sitting back in his seat. "I'd say that this meeting is over, then. Tentra, your claims mean nothing to us. Consider yourself a convict." As soon as he said those words, generals Falon and Alan descended the stairs located in between their circular desks and advanced towards Tentra, each grabbing him roughly by the arms. "You will be charged with invasion and for an attempt at seizing control of an entire country," Ison continued, his voice flat. "...Take him away."

Wordlessly, Falon and Alan complied and began to guide Tentra out of the chamber.

From her perched position, Zelda watched the group leave the room, her eyes locked upon Tentra with fierce disliking and her heart feeling relieved at the same time. When the trio had disappeared from her view she heard the heavy door at the end of the hall creak open, heard it click shut, and then heard another door open as the two generals began to guide Tentra into the castle dungeons. A small smile played across Zelda's face for the first time in a long while.

She backed up to the tree's trunk and began to slide down it, landing in the soft grass below with a small grunt and a soft thump. Then, she hurried along the wall of the council chamber and threw open the door and stepped inside. She was very eager to learn more about what had just happened, for she had only heard when the men had shouted loudly. Most of what had been said had been spoken in low tones, thus Zelda had been unable to properly eavesdrop.

When she emerged from the hallway and stood at the head of the small set of stairs that led into the council chamber, she felt the eyes of the rest of the men lock upon her with shock.

"P-Princess Zelda?" General Ison rose from his chair and leaned forward, as though to grant his poor vision a better view of the young Hylian ruler.

Zelda nodded to him before allowing her gaze to rest upon the other generals for an equal amount of time.

"I am she," she said, her voice ringing throughout the dome-shaped room. There was a moment of silence then, which was broken by Ison clearing his throat and standing up straighter.

"Th-thank goodness you're all right," he started. "We had heard that you were locked in your chambers..." Zelda nodded.

"Yes. I was." Then, before anyone could burst out an inquiry, Zelda began to explain what had happened when she had entered the office where she was supposed to meet with Ambassador Aleen.

Briefly, her anger returned when she recalled the words that Aleen had said to her, having to pause in her story in order to recompose herself before continuing. When she had finished off with her description of having attempted to eavesdrop upon the men's meeting, she proceeded to ask for the details.

"That man was of a different race, Your Highness," one of the army chiefs began. "A Fenri, capable of transforming into anyone that he wants. He claimed that the ambassador that you met with was actually Alexandria Ruheart in disguise."

Zelda felt as though her heart had stopped and she stared at the man with dilated eyes. "Y-you're...you're sure?" The man nodded.

"I would not lie to you, Princess."

Zelda's mind instantly backtracked to the trial of Alexandria and how she had managed to escape during the unnecessary scuffle that had occurred. She then recalled the search parties that she had dispatched all over the country and remembered how disappointed she felt when no one could tell her where the woman had gone.

Just as Zelda was about to ask why Alexandria had decided to return to the castle, to the one place that would have locked her behind bars as soon as she was found, General Bourke gave her an answer.

"The man, Tentra, said that he and Alexandria were under orders from some guy named 'Prince Malbex'," he said. Zelda frowned. Where had she heard that name before? "According to Tentra, Alexandria is supposedly on her way to your chambers right now, in order to take you to him. Falon and Alan should know—I'm guessing they're going to be going after her in order to lock her up, too."

"Take me to Malbex?" Confusion hung from Zelda's voice. "What for?" Although it was a rather foolish thought, Zelda did always think that her enemy would come to her and introduce himself, rather than the other way around.

As soon as the two-worded question fell from her tongue, the remaining generals in the room exchanged pained looks with one another. Zelda felt her heart sink and took a small step forward, looking at each of the men with worried eyes.

"What for?" she asked again, her voice a bit louder and more demanding this time.

"The man..." Ison dropped his eyes to his table before looking down to her. "He intends to extract the Triforce of Wisdom from your body, Princess."

All of the blood in Zelda's body ran cold and her face paled. Her lips pressed together and her eyes fell to the ground, where they stared, unfocused and lost in the terror that began to cloud her mind.

She had read about what would happen when a wielder of the Triforce had it extracted from their body. The ancient relic being entwined with their soul, ripping it out of them would make their body nothing more than a hollow shell.

Although it was merely theoretical, it was a risky job and could result in the death of the Triforce owner. Zelda swallowed—hard.

_It would be like dying._

She closed her eyes and brought a hand to her head, for she suddenly felt dizzy. When she tried to imagine what would be happening to her if she hadn't decided to fight against the forces trying to strip her of her title, she might be on her way to Malbex already. Every moment would be ticking towards her inevitable demise, every forward motion guiding her towards the unexplainable pain that she would have felt.

Zelda shook her head. That was part of a different result. That was not going to happen.

_But still..._

"E-extract..." She whispered the word out hoarsely and nearly gagged. It disgusted her and made her stomach twist.

_I...I would...I would have been..._

"Princess, under the current circumstances, I propose that you limit yourself to the castle grounds." One of the general's voices cut into her disturbed thoughts and she looked up to him, almost dazed. When she found who had spoken to her, she recognized him as General Drake. "Should the need arise where you do need to go somewhere beyond the castle, you will be attended by a group of personal bodyguards."

"But Tentra said that most of our soldiers are already on his side, remember?" Bourke reminded him. "If that's true, we don't even know who, specifically, has sided against the Princess. Having her be confined to the castle grounds seems kind of risky, to me. And what if we place some of those soldiers as her bodyguards?"

"I agree," Ison said, nodding. "Then perhaps moving the Princess to the bunker would..."

"You mean the one in the Lake Hylia region?" someone else blurted out. "But the other soldiers know of that place. If they find out that Zelda is no longer here, it's highly likely that the bunker will be the first place that they search."

"Hmm..." Ison again began to stroke his beard. While the entire room fell into a mode of thought, Zelda cleared her throat, an idea suddenly occurring to her.

"Tentra was disguised as Link, was he not?" she asked.

The councilmen paused and a few of them nodded.

"Aleen, or Alexandria rather, told me that Link had also decided to betray me," Zelda reminisced. "But now that I know that that Link was fake—"

"Princess—" Drake tried to cut in, but Zelda did not stop speaking.

"—I will search for the real one," she finished. "I may have already sent Captain Regal out to search for him, but I am afraid that he might have run into some trouble. Besides, my being in more than one location while I seek him out may throw off the soldiers if they try to pursue me." When the entire council fell silent once again, Zelda thought that they were leaning towards agreeing with her. She was proved wrong when Drake spoke out against it.

"Journeying through the fields at a time like this is a bad idea," he began and Zelda frowned. "What with the Demonics roaming about and other monsters... It's far too dangerous for you."

"General Drake," Zelda started, her voice low and bouncing off of the circular walls of the war council room, "I did not ask for your opinion. I will search for Link—perhaps he can help us. And while I am gone, if you are so worried, keep the soldiers off of me.

"Keep the castle under control. Throw the soldiers off any way that you can so that I can have more time. And do not worry—I will return." Drake opened his mouth to object once again, but Zelda held up a hand and her once disapproving eyes softened just a bit. "Please. Let me do this. Just knowing that there are people like you, General Drake... And all of you." Zelda averted her eyes from him and looked around the room. "Knowing that there are still some soldiers that are still loyal to their Princess is what will help me. I won't let your efforts to try and protect me go to waste. Here and now, I promise all of you: I will return."

Drake opened his mouth just a couple of times after Zelda had finished, his mind working to figure out what he should say first. Then, finally, he let out a sigh and nodded. "I understand, Your Highness." He then closed his hand into a fist and brought it over his heart, then gave a small bow. "I will help to keep the castle under control...until you return."

Exchanging glances with one another, the rest of the generals followed suit, giving their Princess a bow of allegiance as well. Zelda's eyes brightened and another small smile appeared on her face as tears began to build up in the corners of her eyes. Hurriedly, she brushed them away and sniffed. Then, she turned and left the chamber, her newest quest set firmly in her mind: she had to find Link now.

She had to find him...and request his help just one last time.

* * *

The sound of the cell's bars slamming shut rang in Tentra's ears as he sat upon the cold, stone ground. In the darkness of the dungeon he could barely see the face of General Alan or Falon and so he merely watched as their silent and black silhouettes walked away.

When he heard the door of the dungeons slam shut behind them, he let out a deep sigh and dropped his head, his pure white hair falling across his shoulders and obscuring his pale face in even more shadows.

With his head hung low like this, his shoulders began to shake as a small laugh rippled through him. As soon as some of it slipped out, however, Tentra quickly clamped his mouth shut and lifted his head, his laugh having taken the form of a smile stilled upon his face.

They didn't really think that they could just keep him locked up in here, did they?

Suppressing another laugh, he imagined the faces of the men from the war council, all of them glaring down at him as though they had an authority that ranked high above him—_him_, who had power over more than half of the rest of the Hyrulean soldiers.

And with the power that he held over these soldiers, he would eliminate those generals, those guards that still remained allegiant to the Hylian Princess.

"Such a shame..."

Tentra lifted the sleeve of his robe, revealing a glimmering gold bracelet with a very familiar and clear stone embedded into its surface.

Yes...such a shame indeed.


	50. Chapter 49

**Chapter Forty-Nine**

"Oh, more food?"

"That's for me, isn't it?"

"Shut up, he's here for me! Right? That food's for me, ain't it?"

"All of you are stupid; he's here to set me free and that meal is mine, as an apology for unjustly locking me up!"

"You're just as guilty as the rest of us! There's no way you're being set free!"

"I am _not_ guilty, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

"Feh. That's what they all say."

"I really was, I – h-hey! Soldier! Where are you going?! You're supposed to be setting me free! Stop!"

"Ha, ha! Told ya he wasn't here for you!"

"Please... I'm begging you...!"

_Prisoners._

The Hyrulean soldier continued down the aisle of convicts, turning a blind eye to their angered expressions and a deaf ear to their cries. With every metallic step that he took, each part of the disapproving meal on his tray jiggled: a bowl of soup, contaminated by diced bits of cold vegetables and barely cooked meat, and a small cup of warm water.

The rancid stench of body odor and rat feces infested the prison area with overpowering authority, making the soldier's hidden face twist with discomfort. Torches dimly lit the man's way as he walked, illuminating the scurrying form of a rodent as it fled from his advancing feet. Stiffly the soldier continued forward, glancing at the cells to his left and right as he searched for the convict that he was supposed to be feeding.

The calls and begs of the criminals behind him had not died even when he found the cell he was looking for. Approaching it, he made to dump the tray of inhospitable food in front of it but, after peering inside, he stopped himself. Eyes dilated he scanned the cell and, unable to believe what he was seeing, he hustled over to the next prison cage and looked inside of it. As soon as he could clearly see its innards he swore and ran back the way that he had come.

"Oh, you're back!" the convict that had been wailing earlier cheered, smiling to reveal a mouth of gradually rotting teeth. "Brought me my food, aye? And those keys, too, right?"

"Shaddap, you idiot," some other man slurred from the cage across from him, hanging on the bars like a drunkard. Like the other prisoners his hair was matted and disheveled and his eyes were partly sunken in with exhaustion. "He came back 'cause he's seen them empty cells! Ain't that right, bub?"

The soldier turned to look at him, grateful that his helmet could hide his wide eyes. Managing control over his voice, he addressed him, "How did you know they were empty?"

The man spat on the floor and stood up straighter. " 'Cause I saw them escape. The people that were s'posed to be in there."

"How could they have escaped?" The soldier took a few steps closer to the man. "These bars are made of _steel_ – no human hands could have —"

"Maybe they escaped 'cause they didn't use their hands to get out," the man interrupted. He slouched against the bars again, looking amused. "One of 'em had this jewel around his wrist and I guess it made a portal or somethin' and it lead to the other side of his cell. When he was out, he released that woman that was brought in here a little after he was and the two split."

The soldier stared, undoubtedly stunned. "Portal?" he repeated in awe. "They _escaped_?! But how did – why did no one – what – I... They couldn't have gotten out, there's only one door that leads out of here! Someone would have seen them!"

The offender raised his shoulders and pushed himself off of the bars, then turned to make his way towards the back of his cell. "Stop!" The soldier lunged forward and grabbed the cell bars, maintaining the convict's attention. The criminal turned to look at him, peering at him out of the corner of his eye. "You saw them leave, didn't you? How did they get out of the dungeons?"

Again the man shrugged and then plopped himself in the middle of the floor. There came the sound of something scratching itself into the ground and the officer assumed he was carving something into the floor. Finally, the felon's voice drifted out of the cage: "How did the man first get out of his cell?"

* * *

"It's only a matter of time before they see that we're gone." Tentra turned to the window of the weaponry, his eyes falling upon the moonlit community of Castle Town nestled far below. Even from where he stood he could spot the miniscule figures of people entering houses and inns as the hours of the night crept along. "I wouldn't be surprised if they've got some soldiers looking for us now…however few of them there may be."

"Go to the barracks." The Fenri turned away from the window at the sound of his partner's voice, searching the dimness of the storage room until he spotted her standing beside a few shelves of uniform swords. Her silver brow furrowed and her red eyes glowing angrily in the white light of the moon, she glared down at her pale hands as they fumbled over her large prison tunic in order to equip a sword to her belt. "They should be ready now."

Tentra merely nodded to her, knowing the situation was far too grim for him to snidely joke around and delay to follow out the order. As he raised his left arm, the one that bore his Grell, he pictured in his mind the location he wished to go; in response, the Grell's Hand jumped and darted out of the stone with lightning speed and ripped through the fabric of space itself, conjuring a portal for its owner.

"And don't forget your part," Alexandria added after finally attaching the sword to her belt. She looked up from her handiwork and fixed her eyes on him.

"Alexandria, my dear," her accomplice started before he could catch himself, "who's the one that came up with 'my part'?"

The silver-haired woman stared at him, her crimson eyes glowing with irritation. She took a small step towards him and with a sudden leap Tentra darted into the portal, which closed itself in his wake.

She scoffed, and then turned her attention towards the window, her gaze settling upon the Hyrulean capital. She glared down to the city for a moment, then turned and quietly opened the door of the weaponry.

After checking the torch-lit hall to make sure that they were clear, she slipped out of the room and quietly shut the door behind her. One hand on the hilt of her sword, she proceeded to run down the corridor, her feet tapping softly against the stone floor.

* * *

"The idea that he may truly have control over a majority of our soldiers is what bothers me the most," Markus said, his troubled expression mirrored on the faces of those that surrounded the table before him: generals and council members alike. "The only question is, how do we expose those that have decided to side against the entire country?" The council chamber's marble walls echoed the question back at him in the silence.

"The only thing that we could do would be to fire anyone that looks suspicious," Gregory, the Minister of Military Affairs finally offered.

"Perhaps…" Though Markus trailed off, attempting to think of another plan. A ringing silence filled the chamber once more as the rest of the council, as well as the generals, did the same. The short tension was then broken by Bourke's heavy sigh.

"I don't know what to make of any of this," he groaned in vexation, running a hand through his blonde hair. "It seems crazy enough to try to believe that Hyrulean soldiers are actually willing to side against all of Hyrule!"

"Perhaps they are frightened," Elena, another council member reckoned. "Our country was overrun only a year ago, perhaps a little more. It is plausible that that incident has left them traumatized and is making them think that the same may happen again. Many soldiers' lives were lost that year… I am willing to bet that they don't want to die as well."

"They should've been prepared for something like that when they first enlisted in the army," Bourke grunted, directing his gaze to a nearby window. His brow suddenly furrowed. "What was…?"

"Something out of the ordinary, General?" Falon asked, noticing the young man's sudden change in attitude.

"I…" Bourke scrutinized the window for a second longer, though could see nothing outside of it save the faint glow of the moon and the dark of the night sky. He turned back to the table. "No. Nothing."

Skeptically, Falon followed Bourke's earlier gaze and searched the window yet, finding nothing he, too, averted his eyes. Even as he did, what looked like a braided plait of silver hair swung in and out of view of the windowpane.

"Plans to weed out the traitors may need to be postponed," Ison regretfully decided, his face grim. "But for now, we should send a notice to the officials of Hyrule and notify them that we will soon be having trials for those that appear to be up to something…dubious."

"Sounds like the only plan we've got," Bourke sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes." Markus rose from his own seat, his hands pressed against the sleek face of the council table. "Notices will instantly be sent out, and we will meet again midmorning tomorrow. The quicker we deal with this issue, the better."

Feeling that all had been said, the large room began to empty, generals and council members taking their leave and exchanging tired words of dismissal. As he lifted himself from his chair, Bourke looked back to the window he had seen earlier, his eyes moving around its frame and searching the darkness that lay beyond it. He threw a glance towards where everyone was exiting, and then began to approach the window.

One hand at a time he leaned on the sill and looked out into the night. Still seeing nothing out of the ordinary he dropped his eyes to the castle grounds, watching as a handful of soldiers patrolled the area, their lances held steady in their hands and their helmeted heads moving from side to side.

Bourke stared down at them thoughtfully, wondering if they knew he was watching them, if they were really doing their job.

He reckoned they had to be though. After all, if they really were up to something, wouldn't they be more obvious? In his time of working for the Princess through military aid, Bourke had found that Hyrulean soldiers were conspicuous when it came to showing some sort of fear or disloyalty. More than once he demanded that stricter rules be set for incoming trainees but, unfortunately, he had been denied each time.

_Only a matter of time before those instructors' stubbornness comes back to bite them in the –_

A flash of silver cut off Bourke's thoughts, moving with such speed that he barely recognized what it was before it burrowed into the back of one of the night guards. The assailed officer instantly slumped to the ground, the javelin projecting from his back and a pool of dark liquid growing around it. Bourke could only gawk in disbelief.

The sound of the window's latch being unlocked sounded even louder than it normally would be as he undid it, his eyes glued to the corpse far below with building astonishment. Two soldiers that had been posted at a nearby archway broke from their positions and rushed to aid their fallen comrade, shouting to alert nearby soldiers of the sudden incident.

Just as the pair was a few feet away from the body, another javelin erupted from the covers of the night, crashing into the chest of one of the officers and shoving him into the dirt. His partner looked up to see who was attacking them, and Bourke could hear it even from where he stood.

A mob of soldiers charged from the right side of the grounds, bellowing in their thundering advance with weapons held high. The single soldier that stood in their path hesitated, and then took on a battle-ready position. Yet as the small army closed in on him, he scampered back to the safety of the castle. Bourke hoped to Din that he was heading for the warning bells.

Chaos erupted as the ambushers met with the night guards, striking them down by javelin or arrow – Bourke could not clearly tell. Some officers managed to run to the watchtowers situated close by and rang the alarm, jolting every person in the castle with the resounding clang of metal against metal.

The warning bells hollering behind him, Bourke spun on the spot and made to sprint out of the council chambers in order to directly warn the people he had just been speaking with.

He had barely made it a couple of feet away from the window before something collided with his back, sending him crumbling to the floor. Even as he fell he felt the weight on his back leave him, then heard something tap against the tiled floor before him. He lifted his eyes to see what it was but was forced to look away and roll aside in order to avoid the swipe of a sword.

The general shot to his feet and drew his own weapon, locking eyes with his sudden adversary, his eyes dilating briefly before reverting to a solid glare.

Alexandria returned the stare with the same ferocity, brandishing her steel sword before lunging forth with serpent-like speed. Bourke dodged to his left and instantly fell into defense, struggling to keep up with the felon's swiftness. The clanging of their swords rang throughout the room as they fought, ringing in their ears and streaming out of the open doorway and into the hallway.

It only took Bourke a moment to gain the upper hand, pushing Alexandria back so forcibly that for a fleeting second a glimpse of fear flashed through her otherwise hard red eyes. Their blades locked and the Fenri found herself straining to ensure that the man didn't break her guard.

She finally managed to push away from him and took a number of small hops in retreat. Even as she did so hurrying footsteps sounded from the connecting hallway, increasing in volume until the owners of the feet appeared in the room. Ison glanced at Alexandria before unsheathing his sword, then looked to the council member beside him.

"Warn the others," he ordered shortly and the man nodded and took off down the corridor, his hastened footsteps dying slowly until the three were accompanied only by the noise of the ringing alarm.

Ison advanced a number of long strides until he was aligned with his fellow general, his eyes fixated upon their opponent. Alexandria shrunk back slightly, knowing she was outmatched. She needed to finish this quickly and she knew it.

Bourke made a sudden movement as though he were about to dive at her and her eyes flew to meet his, widening and darkening as they made contact. At once the general's ears were overcome with the hisses of undecipherable whispers and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his ears and clenching his teeth in visible agony. A howl of pain shoved passed his lips, resounding in the chamber and sending chills creeping along Ison's spine.

"Bourke!" The name had just fallen off of his tongue before Alexandria turned her attention to him, her eyes a bloody red. The man faltered for a second and, taking the chance, the Fenri shouted something at him in a language he could not determine.

His head suddenly felt pressured as her voice bounced around the room and his knees crumbled beneath him; yelling in anguish he reeled and fell to the floor. Every part of his skull seared with burning pain, unrelenting and merciless, and he kept his large hands pressed against the sides of his head as though to keep it from bursting open. Just as the horrible sensation began to die away, Alexandria spat out the curse again, causing Ison to release a fresh wail of torment.

Groaning, Bourke opened a tightly closed eye and slightly lifted his chin just in time to spot the criminal sprint out of the room. Grumbling an obscenity he drew himself to a half-sitting position, his head spinning and his bleary eyes focusing on Ison's hazy-looking figure.

The man's yelling had died down he noticed, but he still seemed to be terribly shaken. He had to admit that he, too, still felt considerably lightheaded but, thanks to Alexandria directing her attention to Ison, the whispers had died away, leaving him in a numbed state of sanity.

"Go," the senior general suddenly commanded him hoarsely, his hands latched to his head. Bourke didn't reply immediately and so, more forcibly, Ison roared, "_Go after her!_"

Already accustomed to Ison's short temper, Bourke gave a brisk nod. "Sir." Snatching up his sword and rising to his feet, he tore off in the direction of the foreign invader, following the long hall and flying down the spiral staircase at its end as quick as his feet could carry him.

The shouts of men and the ringing of blades ramming together drifted to his ears as he descended, mounting in volume until the entire stairwell was crowded by the sound. Bourke emerged from the stairs, stumbling to a halt when he saw that the passageway was filled with Hyrulean soldiers, all of them fighting, shouting and impaling.

Taking no time to absorb the sight, Bourke dashed towards a corridor to his right, his blue eyes jumping towards anything that moved, thinking it was Alexandria. But every time he looked he would only see a pair of soldiers running or fighting or perhaps even a lone lance rolling along the carpet that spanned the entire passage.

After running through the halls of the castle for another minute or so, Bourke finally accepted that he had lost sight of the escaped convict. He swore under his breath and doubled back, barreling back into the site of the battles that he had passed by and mingling with the tumbling crowd of scuffling officers.

Not even a moment had passed before a soldier threw himself at him, teeth bared and sword raised. Bourke grabbed the man's wrist and caught his eye, recognizing him. He twisted the officer's arm behind his back and hissed into his ear, "_I'm not fighting you_!"

"G-General Bourke!" the soldier choked out, struggling to keep his voice even despite the pain growing in his right arm. Bourke released him and ducked beneath a sailing javelin, then pulled the soldier off to the side of the corridor and circled around a corner.

"What's going on here, Anthony?" the young man's superior officer demanded quietly, holding the guard against the wall with his forearm and his fingers roughly gripping the man's shoulder. When the soldier hesitated, presumably choking on his own fear, Bourke's eyes narrowed. "Tell me: I want to know everything that's happened."

* * *

"Momma, Momma, look!" Her tiny feet scurrying across her family's lawn, a Hylian girl hurried over to a small tree and leaned towards its trunk, bunching up the hem of her long nightgown in her small fists. Her large brown eyes adjusted to the thin stream of light that filtered from her house's front door and she used the illumination to relocate what she had spotted from her home's front window. It only took her a second to find it.

"Lillian!" The child's mother stepped out of the doorway and into the chilly night air. Shivering slightly she wrapped her shawl tighter around her small frame and called out to her daughter again, "Lillian, get inside: you shouldn't be out here after dark!"

"But look, Momma, it's a ca-ter-pill-ar!" Lillian turned around to look at her mother with her large brown eyes, which sparkled as she punched out each syllable of the word. She pointed at the black bit of fuzz clinging to the tree trunk. "Daddy says they turn into _budderflies_!"

Her mother sighed heavily but couldn't keep from smiling. "_Butterflies_, sweetie," she corrected gently. The four-year-old's head tilted to the side.

"That's what I said."

"All right, all right," her mother waved a hand in surrender. "But come on, time to get inside."

Casually her eyes moved to the city square, watching as other Hyrulean citizens ventured to and fro from evening events, some of them chatting in groups or pairs while others ambled alone, hands in their pockets and their shoulders hunched against the cool night air.

Her eyes then suddenly flicked upwards, briefly fixing upon the dark silhouette of the castle that could be seen just over central Castle Town's tall fountain. Her gaze fell to the archway that led to the castle's front gates and she frowned, thinking she had seen something move. "Come on, Lily," she called sweetly, still focused on the dark tunnel.

"But can't I have a bit more time with the caterpillar?" the child pleaded, still staring at the little bug. "I want to give him a name! I'll name him…Fuzzy!"

"All right, Fuzzy, then." Lillian's mother took a couple of steps out onto the icy walkway. "Now come on."

But Lillian didn't look at her mother, nor pay attention to how she began to advance towards her, one hand outstretched. Rather, she stuck her finger in the path of the furry insect and after inspecting its sudden barrier the creature began to crawl over it. Lillian giggled and her shoulders shook, then she sneezed. As she drew up a hand to rub her nose, her mother placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Lily," she uttered softly. But the girl remained focused on the tree and the bug that was now nowhere to be found.

"Oh no, Fuzzy!" she wailed, searching her arm and then the grass that tickled her bare toes. "Fuzzy, where are you?"

"Fuzzy will be fine," Lillian's mother assured her. Again her eyes flew up to the castle and then dropped back to her daughter; she forcibly shook away her unreasonably fearful thoughts. The darkness of night just seemed to give the archway a sinister look that was all.

It was just her imagination.

"Come on, honey."

Her lower lip poking out, Lillian reluctantly let her mother lead her back into the house, though kept her attention locked on the tree as though expecting her new pet to come crawling back out into the open. Her focus was only broken when she spotted some sort of movement beneath the arch that led to the castle.

"What's that?" she blurted out and, against her instincts, her mother turned to follow her child's gaze.

She heard it before she clearly saw it.

A horde of soldiers erupted from the darkness of the tunnel, shouting and screaming and flooding into the square. Lillian's eyes widened and she whimpered with fear; her mother scooped her into her arms and bolted for her front door, her green eyes wide and her small body moving at a speed she had never known before.

She reached out a hand, groping for her door and when she had a proper clutch on it she threw herself into the security of her home and slammed the door shut behind her, an arrow crashing into it as she did.

Head-throbbing shrieks and cries of panic rocketed into the air, tearing from the throats of the civilians that stood scattered throughout the plaza. Men and woman darted and ran, stumbling over their own feet or tripping over loose stones in the ground.

Some managed to escape the oncoming mayhem while others were not so lucky, drawn into the gray crowd of officers and caught by the blow of a sword. Everywhere bodies began to collapse, both soldier and citizen, either struck down or too wounded to continue, and arrows flew in every which direction.

Amidst the silver of the many armored men that gradually began to pool into the square of the capital, a single Hylian broke free of the crowd, his blue eyes glowing viciously and a disturbing smile playing across his face.

Sword and shield drawn, the Hyrulean struck down every soldier he crossed paths with, his blade merciless and his eyes forever gleaming with laughter. Blood splattered upon his distinguishable green tunic and his brown boots treaded over the bodies of fallen soldiers without a second glance.

"Get rid of all of them!" Link roared, flourishing his sword. "Don't let any of them escape!"

A dreadful yell rippled through the mass before him and all of the soldiers began to fight with more vigor, teeth clenched and weapons flashing. Charging forward, the Hyrulean imposter joined the movement, cutting down his opponents with rough but simple strikes.

"The gates, men!" Falon's voice broke out over the din. "We're almost there!"

"Keep fighting!" Tentra roared, contorting Link's youthful visage with an expression of mounting anticipation.

"Keep moving!" Bourke thundered, bashing an attacking soldier over the head with the butt of his weapon. "Don't stop!"

Bellowing like a moblin's boar, Ison rammed his shoulder through a line of officers, knocking them aside as he fought to keep up with his allies. Within moments he had reached the frontlines, joining with his head officers in leading their small battalion towards the city's eastern gates. Without notice citizens that were blocking their path were shoved aside or ran away of their own will; stray animals hid in the spaces between buildings or joined with other civilians in the hunt for shelter.

Upon reaching the gates, two generals pulled the tall doors open just enough for their followers to squeeze through. Once everyone had passed into the nightly grasslands beyond they too, exited the city, caring not for shutting the doors behind them.

Tentra and his army followed, their swords raised and their voices shrill with cries of victory.

* * *

Pink light blinked by the horizon, melting into the pale blue of the early morning sky. Unlike most days, the air was not filled by the chirping of birds or the bustle of citizens in the capital – rather, it was silent. Shadows covered every alley and hugged close to every building of the Hyrulean capital, darkening the thoughts of all who were near it and comforting those too frightened to leave it.

Somewhere in the square a plank of wood snapped and cracked off of a signpost, falling to the blood-soaked ground with a hopeless, dull thud. No one reacted to the sound or even glanced in the direction it came from, their senses too packed by the moaning of the wounded or the bodies of the deceased to notice anything else.

Bodies were everywhere, lying in puddles of their own blood and gasping for breath. Some people were slouched against a wall, cradling wounded limbs, or hunting for a loved one that had hopefully avoided the massacre.

The sounds of the battle were still ringing in Alexandria's ears. The men had shouted so loudly and their weapons had crashed together so forcibly. She wondered what Tentra had said to them that could have made them so ruthless…that would make them so unafraid to participate in a surprise attack on their own superior officers.

Hyrulean soldiers seemed to have more menace in them than she had thought.

_Maybe they won't be bad allies after all._

Alexandria curled her fingers around the banister of the balcony that overlooked the square, her steel blue eyes watching the citizens below. Her dark hair was caught by the wind in a steady breeze and her pinkish cheeks grew pinker with the morning chill.

She shivered subtly and took a deep breath.

"Citizens of Hyrule!" she bellowed, her voice carrying throughout the plaza. Here and there heads looked up and around, searching for the source of the overpowering vocals. "Hear me!" She was finally located by all: an average-sized woman standing upon the balcony, her dark hair messy and her noble clothes tattered and worn, as if she, too, had been caught in the chaos from only a couple of hours ago.

"Our country is under attack," she began, "and by someone amongst us. I am sure that you all saw who he was." She paused. "Under his direction soldiers paraded through our square and slaughtered us without reason! Who knows what has gotten into his head…or what his true intentions were. However, such a thing doesn't matter!

"Like you, I, too, have suffered from this sudden attack – I, a servant of our Princess and a representative of you people! And as your representative I ask you: what group of people shall sit idly by while our capital city is torn to the ground? Surely not us!" In the crowd that gathered and grew below heads nodded and some grumbled in approval. "What people groans in agony while their brothers are slain by their side? Surely not us!" The grumbling grew to a low murmur. "Then surely we will do something about this?" Alexandria gestured to the plaza where small shops and carts were overturned and bodies still lay. She twisted her face in disgust.

"We have been ambushed! We have been unjustly wounded! We have been immorally robbed of those we love!" The foreigner reached into her shirt and pulled out a large flier, then held it in front of the defeated crowd before her. The paper unrolled, revealing the sketched out drawing of a roughly colored individual: the artwork of another of Tentra and Alexandria's secret followers.

"Our enemy, truthfully spotted by a number of witnesses among you, is none other than the Ordonian, Link!" A ripple of rage swept over the audience, burning in their eyes and fixing itself onto their faces. Alexandria's grip on the banister tightened and she bit back a devilish grin. "Because of his actions," she went on evenly, "our beautiful city is now in shambles, and our people are dying! Let it be heard now, that this man is no longer welcome in this city, or in this country!

"Spread word of his sins! Spread word of his devastation!" Her voice lowered to a menacing tone and her blue eyes flashed in the light of dusk as the sun rose over the hills. "And should he ever show his face in this city again, he will receive the punishment he so rightly deserves."

As she finished the throng of Hyruleans below burst into roars of agreement and pumped their fists into the air. Even from where the outlander stood she could see the determination that filled their hardened eyes, nearly making her tremble with satisfaction.

Her fingers unfurled over the edge of the wanted poster, allowing it to drift towards the mass of excited people below. Swiveling on the spot Alexandria turned to enter the building the balcony protruded from, running a hand through her hair as it returned to its natural white color. Her scarlet eyes shone with malice as she proceeded towards a spiral staircase at the end of the hall, all the while a sinister smile spreading across her face.


	51. Chapter 50

**Chapter Fifty**

That was the sixth time.

Dijonay dropped her chin and released a shaky, anxious breath.

That was the sixth time that she had had the vision, the sixth time that she had seen the soldier's flier dangled in the Hylian's face – the sixth time that she had read its words.

Every fiber of her being wished that she could prevent the event from happening, but every part of her knew that even if she tried to, she would only delay it. Once her Foresight revealed an event, there was no stopping it: it had to happen.

And it always did.

With another rattling breath Dijonay tightened the blanket around her body as though it could contain her building dread. With her brow furrowed in despair, she stared down at the wooden floor of her Elde Inn room, eyes locked on the patch of square sunlight that sat near its center.

Gradually her eyes then moved up to look at the window, the source of the light, and she gazed at the exhausted prime minister that looked back at her. She rubbed a sleepy eye, and then looked past her reflection and towards the sunny morning beyond, its sky a calm, cloudless blue and its air full of the low chatter of villagers and children running in the streets. Dijonay stared at the scene, unblinking. It was so ironic.

_It looks as any other day._

She turned her attention back to the room, focusing upon the two beds that were with her: in one lay Katrina, the other Renée, with each of them breathing deeply in their peaceful slumber. Dijonay wished that her night's rest had been similar but, sadly, her Foresight had not seen fit for her to rest tranquilly.

For a moment, she wondered if she should return to bed. However as soon as this thought crossed her mind there was a knock upon the door that connected the room to that of her male allies.

Slowly Dijonay crawled out of the bed, letting the thick quilt slide off of her back. Her bare feet moved softly on the cold, wooden floor as she advanced towards the door and her hand latched around its chilly handle when she was near.

Carefully she pulled it open just enough for her face to be revealed to the one who had called for her attention. When she saw him, her heart skipped a beat.

"Morning," Link greeted. Dijonay only looked back at him stiffly, her mind drawing her to the castle gates of her vision. She swallowed and forced herself to refocus upon the present.

"G-good morning, Link," she mumbled distractedly. "I see you…slept well." She strained to smile.

"Yeah, more or less," Link replied, giving her a half shrug. He suddenly frowned as he studied her features: her eyes, red and glazed, were visually shadowed with fatigue, and her face appeared rather pale. "And you?"

Dijonay bit her lip. "…More or less."

Link regarded her doubtfully before he decided to dismiss the topic. "We're leaving soon. Are you all awake yet?"

"No," Dijonay shook her head, "but I can wake them up. Are Brent and Mekial awake?"

"Brent is," Link replied truthfully. "Mekial…not so much."

The prime minister chuckled. "He always has been a heavy sleeper. Try to tempt him with breakfast. That usually works."

"I'll try that," Link smiled fleetingly. "Well, just knock when you all are ready, and I'll go downstairs and check us out." Dijonay nodded and Link stepped back into his room, giving her the space she needed to close the door.

Once she had, she dropped her eyes to the ground then lifted them to the sleeping forms of Katrina and Renée. And at that moment, her worry departed.

It looked as any other day.

* * *

Only a couple of hours had passed by the time the group was prepared for departure. Once dressed, they ate a simple breakfast then checked out of the hostel and exited the building, emerging on the inn's front deck in the sunny, mild morning. Without pausing to revel in the season's fair weather, the party descended the porch's left side ramp and followed the main road towards Kakariko's northern exit.

As they journeyed forth, the foreigners took this opportunity to digest what a Hyrulean community was like. As far as they could tell the people acted the same as in rural Arkanian civilizations: they gossiped in crowds by the side of the road, swept their porches or strutted about aimlessly, expressions thoughtful as a deep idea settled itself across their minds.

Already acquainted with these acts, the Arkanians found themselves at ease as they walked, almost as though they had never left home. Yet even as they thought this they knew it was not so, for there was a slight difference in the air here in Hyrule, something subtle, something that quietly reminded them that this was not Arkania, but a land truly foreign to them in every way.

Brent was the first to realize what it was.

As he walked, he slowly became aware of the fact that none of the townspeople passed him even a moment's scowl as he walked by. None of them looked upon him with scorn when they spotted his pointed ears; no one glared at him and turned to whisper derogatory comments in the ear of a nearby companion. It was almost as though they accepted him.

As if being Hylian…was normal.

Brent allowed his eyes to flick towards the ears of the villagers as he passed them, noting their shape. As he guessed, a majority of the villagers were human while the remainder was of Hylian descent.

But what Brent found to be more intriguing was the fact that the humans did not scorn the Hylians that were amongst their population either. They even spoke to them and laughed with them. Like they were equals. Though Brent felt comforted by such an idealistic sight, part of him felt a stab of discomfort, as though some of him did not want to believe that such a thing were possible.

"This weather's really good," Renée suddenly blurted out, jerking Brent out of his troubled thoughts. He turned just in time to see her suck in a deep breath of the warm air, only to choke and snort on the sand that hovered about the community. Dijonay stifled a laugh while Mekial didn't hold back.

"It is," the young mage agreed cheerily. "It's almost like fall and winter just skipped and it went straight to spring."

"This _is_ fall," Link called from the front of the group. "Hyrule just has a warmer climate."

"Wow," Renée breathed and clasped her hands behind her back. Thoughtfully, she gazed at the blue expanse above. "Wonder what summer feels like."

"Hot," Link replied instantly, his face falling as he recalled tending to the Ordonian goats in the burning weather of summertime. The chore was a nightmare. "Almost as bad as the Gerudo Mesa."

Renée looked at him quizzically. "What's that?"

"It's a desert," Brent answered before Link could even open his mouth. "An ancient one, at that."

Link looked back at him, surprised. "How did –?" But he stopped as realization dawned on him. "Oh, right: the Hylian records your resistance found." Brent gave a half-nod.

"They're pretty handy."

"Where did you find those, anyway?"

"We found them in a building close to the coast. It was probably one of the safe houses that the Arkanians used when they were escaping the flood. There they kept a record of everything that had happened after their escape and when they left – or died – they left the documents behind."

"The building was really dusty and full of mold," Renée added, wrinkling her nose as she remembered it, "so it was kind of hard to breathe. We only stayed in there long enough to get what we could before the air was too much for us to handle. We didn't grab much but what we did get had tons of information in it."

"Where is this building?" Dijonay inquired slowly, her brow furrowing with suspicion. Brent glanced at her and hesitated.

"Uh…"

"If it is the same building that I am thinking of, then those logs that you found are major parts of Arkanian history; they should be given to me."

"It depends on what building you're thinking of," Brent said, his eyes pointed forward. Dijonay stared at his profile, her gait unchanging and her voice even when she spoke:

"The one by the Kokiri Gulf?"

Brent bit back an obscenity. "Ah – "

But the calling of Link's name from behind broke off his speech and the group turned, squinting through the clouds of dirt that fogged Kakariko's air in search of the one who had spoken.

Their hunt did not last long, as each of them soon spotted a large, broad-shouldered silhouette hustling through the small crowds along the road in their direction. The creature's purple eyes peered through the haze right back at them, and it was at that moment that the company identified what it was.

"Is…" Dijonay's sour expression fell away, revealing a visage dressed with wide-eyed disbelief. "Is that…" She took a step closer as the Goron drew nearer and brought a hand to her mouth. "Darabius…?"

Katrina did not bother to cast even the most evanescent of glances in the prime minister's direction. "It can't be."

"It's not," Link confirmed just before the Goron came into clearer view. "It must be a genetic thing: the Gorons are all spitting images of each other."

"Even the girls…?" he heard Mekial mutter off to the side.

"Oh…" Dijonay's face went grave. "I see."

"Brothers! Sisters…!" the Goron managed to greet before doubling over in an attempt to catch his breath. Silently the party waited until the mountain-dweller had gathered himself together. "Our patriarch…told me to come and find you," the creature started through heavy gasps, hands on his knees. "He has a message…for all of you. He would have sent a letter, but the postman has not been spotted…as of late…"

Link tensed at the mention of the deceased and suddenly, but briefly, wondered if Zelda had bothered to find a replacement for the man; he also found himself questioning why there had only been one postman in the entire country to begin with. His thoughts reconnected to reality when he subconsciously noticed the Goron straighten, looming over he and his comrades.

"Our patriarch is greatly indebted to you, as we all are," the beast started, his speech having taken on a normal pace and his breathing more even now, "for what you've all done for us in the mines yesterday. Thanks to all of you, we can finally go back to working in the mines without having any trouble.

"To repay you, our patriarch says that if you ever need anything, if we can ever repay you for what you've done for us, we will. You all are very good people," he added, his tone full of genuine appreciation, "and we can't ignore your deeds. Especially you, Brother" – he looked at Link – "because this is the second time that you've helped us. We're indebted to you the most."

"We are glad that we could help you," Dijonay spoke up, smiling warmly, "and we are thankful for your offer as well. However, truthfully, I do not believe that it is necessary." This last statement had come from her heart for, in all honesty, she had not joined Link on his journey in order to receive payment for the good deeds that she would no doubt help to accomplish by his side.

"She's right," Link agreed, attracting the Goron's eye. "What we were allowed to take from the mines is all that we needed. You don't need to worry about repaying us."

But the Goron shook his head, refusing to relent. "Even if you don't accept it now, our offer will still stand."

"But – "

"Please," the Goron's brown face almost looked pleading, "it's custom for us to do this. We find no trouble in it at all."

Link let out his breath and rubbed the back of his neck, figuring that this "Goron custom" was somehow acquainted with the tribe's pride. As such, he decided that refusing to accept their proposal would greatly offend them. "Then…all right. We'll keep your offer in mind," he said somewhat grudgingly. The beast beamed and looked as though he would burst with excitement.

"Please don't worry at all, Brother," he said merrily. "It's only right for us to do this, isn't it?"

Link did not answer.

"He's just too humble for his own good," Renée said, smiling. The Goron tipped his chin.

"Yes, so it seems," he concurred. "But now, I shall no longer keep you: the patriarch mentioned that you're all heading to the capital today, correct?"

"That's right," Link affirmed gravely.

"Then may the heavenly Sisters bless you all with a safe journey," the Goron replied, "especially with those Shadows wandering about the fields nowadays. Be careful."

"Thank you. We will." The Goron gave a short nod, waved and then turned, trudging along the path to whence he had come with his mission completed.

"You guys don't need to look so guilty," Renée said to Link and Dijonay as the rock eater disappeared around the bend that led to Death Mountain's pass. "When you think about it, they were only being polite. And our accepting their offer is only just as right as us helping them out in their mines, isn't it?"

Link made a thoughtful humming sound and stared at Kakariko's steadily crowding street distractedly. "I guess." He tore his eyes from the small community and turned back to follow the road out of the village, the others silently falling into step behind him. A strong wind picked up as they came within sight of the northern gate, throwing even more sand in their path and nearly obscuring the exit.

Arms up to block the gale and eyes narrowed they continued through the gates and followed the widening road as it wound its way through the mountains that bordered Kakariko from the rest of the province.

"How far is the capital, anyway?" Mekial suddenly asked, hastening his stride to keep up with Link's.

"We should be there by midday tomorrow," the Hyrulean answered, squinting again when another wind picked up and hurled clumps of dust into the air. "But like that Goron said, there are Shadows out there now. We'll have to stay alert and watch each other's backs."

"Or you, Brent and Katrina could just listen for any sign of a Shadow coming," the young mage suggested. But Link shook his head.

"The Shadows are silent, remember? The only way we'd know if they were coming would be if we saw them." He tapped one of his pointed ears, "Not even a Hylian can hear them coming."

"Well that's hardly encouraging," the boy muttered as the group turned a corner, arriving by the edge of Eldin's fields.

"As long as we stay on our toes we'll be fine," Link assured, "and we'll make it to the castle alive and in one piece. Then we'll meet with the princess and let her know what's been going on."

"Will it really be that easy to see her?" Renée speculated, looking doubtful. Although she was excited to see Hyrule Castle, she could not help but feel as though it would be a bit difficult to gain an audience with the princess. "I mean we don't exactly have any kind of authentication that will make her pay attention to us."

"Hopefully Captain Regal will vouch for us, considering he's gotten there before we have," Link replied evenly. "We'll just have to announce ourselves at the castle gates and hope for the best."

Renée nodded, though did not seem very convinced; Dijonay's eyes fell to the path, and a distant look of worry settled over her being, distracting her from the sight of the Eldin grasslands emerging before her.

The remaining foreigners of her party marveled at the plains' as they entered them, drinking in its grand landscape through curious eyes. Link remained at the front of the group, guiding them in the proper direction and granting the scenery an indifferent sweep of his eyes. Though it had been a long time since he had last set foot in this part of the country, he did not feel the urge to bask in his surroundings the way his allies did.

For most of the first day of their travel, they marched forth in lighthearted conversation and went undisturbed by any of Hyrule's infamous creatures. Close to midday they stopped for a short break where they feasted upon small biscuits.

"We can't risk ourselves by making a fire and cooking the meat we have in broad daylight," Link had explained when he saw Katrina eye the bread rolls sourly. "We're not alone out here, remember that. We can cook tonight and we shouldn't be bothered – even if monsters wander around at that time, they don't have very good night vision, so they won't be able to find us."

"Hopefully we'll get some real food in the city," the Corevenian grumbled, grabbing one of the biscuits and tearing off a small piece to throw in her mouth. It was fairly soft and warm and, though not very sustainable, did quiet her stomach a little. After she had finished, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and removed her bow from the quiver on her back. "I'm going to keep watch." Without waiting for a response she got up, marched to a small boulder situated a few meters away from the band's small circle and sat on it.

"She's so sociable, isn't she?" Renée asked dryly, watching Katrina for a short moment before grabbing another biscuit.

"Try to spare them," Link said. "They have to last."

"Oh, right."

Around a half an hour later, Link declared their lunch break to be over and stated that they should pack up their things and move on so as to cover more distance before nightfall. The party consented, gathering their belongings before following the crooked dirt paths of the field towards their destination. Rarely did they cross paths with any monsters but, when they did, they finished them off readily and left their carcasses to rot.

Holes were absent in their travels as well: the land never trembled beneath their feet nor gave without warning. The only sign of the presence of those horrific cavities were the distant gapes in the land far in the distance and, though unsettling and worrying, the party found comfort in the fact that they were smaller than the ones they had previously encountered.

The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon when they decided to rest again, settling behind a cluster of boulders near a river in order to protect themselves from any Shadows or other beasts that might accidentally stumble across them.

Mekial gathered small twigs and forsaken foliage from nearby to create a campfire that would last until they fell asleep and Link produced wrapped slabs of meat from one of the traveling bags to cook.

Renée approached to offer some aid and in a short time the evening meal was prepared. Quickly they ate and when they had finished could not help the fact that they were unsatisfied. Even so, they knew that they had to make their small supplies last until they were able to replenish them in the capital.

As night began to fall the party prepared for a night of rest. Again Katrina volunteered to be the first lookout and seated herself behind one of their protective boulders, her eyes on the dark landscape and her hands wrapped around the bow in her lap.

Link rested against another one of the boulders that circled the camp, his eyes peering into the night lands situated on the other side of the river. With the moon absent and nothing more than the fair light of the stars to fall across the plains, there was no way any kind of monster would be able to find their group, especially when the campfire died down.

His eyes fell to the dying embers of the fire at this fact and he stared down at the smoldering ashes distantly. To his left he sensed movement and, upon flicking his eyes to the side to see what it was, he found that it was Dijonay shifting in her sleep.

She rotated so that she was lying on her back, her hands placed over her stomach and he saw that her eyes were fixed upon the dimly lit sky. A question then appeared in Link's mind and, curiously, he fully looked down to the young ruler. Noticing that she was wide-awake, he presumed that his inquiry would not bother her too much.

"Dijonay?"

The prime minister craned her neck to look at him, her eyes appearing fairly shadowed and reddened in the light of the small fire by her feet. He suddenly regretted his desire to force her to speak. "I…never mind. You look like you could use some sleep."

"No." The girl's voice sounded strangely hollow and Link could not help but feel a bit unnerved by it. Though he had not known her for a very long time, he could sense that something was not right. "I am all right. I do not think that I will be falling asleep anytime soon anyway." She chuckled softly. "What is it that you wanted to ask me?"

"It's nothing," Link shook his head. "I'll probably find out eventually."

At this Dijonay sat up, eyebrows raised. "Find out what?"

Noticing the curiosity in her tone, Link decided that perhaps asking his question would not be bothersome. "I was just wondering about your vision, that's all." Dijonay's stomach dropped and she averted her eyes.

"…What about it?"

"Just if you've seen anything different," Link admitted. "You said that you see more and more details as the event gets closer to becoming reality. So I was just curious if there was anything new that you'd seen…anything that I should be aware of. Have you?"

"O-oh." Dijonay glanced at him before drawing her knees closer to her chest so that she could wrap her arms around them. She leaned forward and stared into the last of the orange flames that danced at her feet, her heart drumming loudly. The images from her intuitive dream replayed in her mind, each detail standing out more than the last until she recalled the newest one: the words on the flyer.

"_Link – Wanted: For the Massacre of Castle Town"._

The bold-faced words of the poster burned in her thoughts, sending chills down her spine, and she wondered if Link were truly capable of committing such a crime. But no matter how much she tried, she could not picture her Hylian acquaintance as anything more than the humble traveler that sat beside her.

Then again, she had not known the man for a very long time. Perhaps he had taken part in the lawless killing before she had met him – perhaps he truly was as merciless and cold-blooded as Arkanians dubbed Hylians to be.

But no, that could not be right. Why would Link be leading all of them into the capital if he knew that, after murdering the people there, there was no chance he would be welcomed? Would he not desire to avoid the city altogether?

Or could it be possible that he had been framed, just as he had been framed for the Isle Massacre? It was likely; now that she thought about it, it was strange that he was found to be guilty of slaughtering people of his own country and of the Corva Isles miles away. Her eyebrows shoved together, wrinkling her forehead with intense thought.

But in the end she gave in, for there was no solid evidence that she knew of that could prove Link's innocence. For all she knew, he could be a silent assassin, leading her and the others into the capital so that they, too, could suffer the same fate as the citizens.

The idea made her tremble but she knew that she had to take it into consideration. She could not take any chances: if she could deliver Link, the murderer, into the hands of Castle Town officials, then she would, and she would return home with the knowledge that Hylians were selfish, horrid people.

After all, the hope of discovering the truth behind Hylians was the reason Dijonay had joined Link to begin with.

"No," she mumbled, knowing that the man's sensitive ears could hear her. "I have seen nothing."


	52. Chapter 51

**Chapter Fifty-One**

Like the day before, the skies were perfectly clear when morning came, shining over the distant mountain range in rays of pink and gray light. Only moments after the glow of dawn had arrived Link shifted in his slumber, his eyes scrunching against the new light in an attempt to block it out and leave him to sleep.

To his dismay his body woke up anyway and he blinked blearily before preparing a small breakfast with the little food that was left. The scent beckoned his allies into consciousness and together the group ate before packing up and setting off once more.

Close to midday, as Link had said, the spires of Hyrule Castle began to loom over the mountains, their tiny flags waving in a gentle wind. The excitement that radiated off of Brent and Renée seemed almost tangible as they drew closer.

Journeying further, a great cavern revealed itself ahead, burrowing through a mountainside and marking the beginning of the path that led to Castle Town's eastern streets. A wide wooden bridge spanned across a colossal gorge nestled in between the plains and tunnel and, with growing excitement, Link and his allies trooped across it and vanished into the unlit passageway. They emerged on its opposite end quickly, where they strode across grainy soil and cobblestones in the direction of a small staircase that ascended to the eastern drawbridge.

The foreigners of the party were already imagining what the city would be like before they even stepped upon the bridge, picturing the hustle and bustle of the citizens and the tall buildings of their homes and stores.

Renée and Brent compared it to the grand city of Amethyst, the capital of the Arkanian Empire, but dismissed the idea jokingly, for no city could compare to such a place.

Lightheartedly they tried to include Dijonay in their small speculation but with a simple, stone-faced look that bore a striking resemblance to Katrina, she refused to join in. The pair recovered from her rejection quickly and, as she began to voice another idea, Renée crashed into Link's back, completely cutting off her speech.

Taking a small step backward she rubbed her nose and smiled apologetically. "Sorry –"

But Link did not turn to acknowledge her statement, for his narrowed cobalt eyes were fixed on something else.

Renée leaned to the side to look at him. "Link?"

Mekial, noticing their guide's sudden trance, hopped up and down to wave a hand in his face. "Something wrong?"

"The city," Link said finally, frowning. "It's…silent. I can't hear anything." Mekial turned to gaze across the drawbridge, towards the tall, wooden gates of the city's east side.

"Well, we are on the other side of the gates, which have gotta be five feet thick, and we're on the other side of the drawbridge," Brent pointed out matter-of-factly. Link cast him a sideways glance.

"No. The city is usually loud, and you can hear it from here. But now…" He took a small step forward and closed his eyes, shutting away all other distractions as he tried to hear the normal sounds of daily city life. He shook his head. "I can't hear anything."

He paused in thought and then approached the gates at a quick jog, his boots thumping heavily on the thick drawbridge. His allies exchanged looks before following him, hurrying noisily across the wooden expansion and fitting through the space between the tall doors of the east entrance with ease. On the opposing end, they stopped a few paces behind Link and identified the reason for the capital's silence.

The once bright morning was now dull within the city walls, casting shadows upon the empty, cobblestone streets of east Castle Town. Crates and barrels were scattered along the walkways, blocking alleys and other narrow back roads, and houses that had once depended on support beams now sagged towards the ground, their support broken and splintered as though a sword had hacked right through it. Windows were shattered, cracked or missing with arrows jutting from their frames and everywhere doors were sealed. There were no signs of movement – not even the wind blew.

Link's ears buzzed with the uncanny silence and his skin crawled; without reason his eyes leaped to a curtain that was hung behind one of the missing windowpanes just in time to see it flutter in an absent breeze, as though someone had shifted behind it.

"This is strange," Dijonay observed, eyeing the empty streets cautiously. "Especially for a capital."

"It's not supposed to be like this," Link informed them and he took an advancing step, his foot landing on something with an abrupt _snap_ that startled his party.

He looked down to slide his foot back and spotted the broken halves of an arrow jammed between the stones of the road. "Something must have happened. Let's get to the castle. Maybe the princess will be able to fill us in…"

But even as these words escaped him, Link could not brush aside a foreboding feeling that this statement would not be probable.

Nevertheless he led his companions through the streets, climbing over fallen crates and barrels in the direction of the city square. Once by the edge of city's east side he ascended a small, stone staircase towards the plaza, his footsteps pounding loudly upon each step in the quiet. At the height of the stairway he entered the town square and stopped suddenly, his eyes wide. Behind him his allies also halted, their jaws hanging loosely.

For there, scattered amidst the destruction of open-air restaurants and the overturned carts of outdoor shops, were the corpses of civilians and soldiers alike, their sides slashed and their eyes staring ahead emptily. Their blood stained the immense walkways, dried and crusted, and weapons of every shape and form jutted out from the backs of soldiers or the cracks of the square. A rude odor consisting of old blood mixed with human sweat wrought the air, forcing the small party to wrinkle their noses with disgust.

Dijonay stared down at the human carcasses and held her stomach, feeling bile rise from the pit of her being. She gripped the shoulder of her young bodyguard tightly and he turned to look at her anxiously. "Dijonay?" The girl was paling alarmingly fast and, before her guard's eyes, she began to shake uncontrollably. "Dijonay –!"

The prime minister's eyes rolled and her body went lax – with her weight increased her knees buckled and she toppled to the ground, mahogany bangs masking her blanch face. Panic overwhelmed the boy beside her and falling to one knee he gripped her by the shoulder. "Dijonay? Dijonay!"

Hearing the muffled thump of Dijonay's collapse the group turned, eyebrows raised or mouths still agape. Brent was the first to drop to the young ruler's side and he brushed the hair away from her crinkled brow.

"It's all right," he assured the fretful mage. "She's only fainted."

"It was probably too much for her to handle," Renée suggested, wrapping her arms around herself against a sudden bite in the air. "This place is…horrible."

"Let's take her to the doctor," Link stated, and he advanced towards the stairs that led back into the east roads. Silently Mekial watched him, noticing the pained look that had settled over his countenance.

Though seemingly always solid in appearance, Mekial presumed that not even a man like Link could withstand such an inhumane sight as the one in the plaza. The child peeked over his shoulder to the cataclysmic scene behind him, only to turn away quickly.

It was far too disturbing for anyone to stand against and in the back of his mind he hoped he would never come across such an image ever again. As Brent scooped the unconscious prime minister into his arms Mekial's brown eyes fell upon her troubled expression.

_Or Dijonay, either._

Katrina lingered momentarily as her allies descended into the back roads, her jade eyes jumping from one dead face to another. She coiled a fist, digging her nails into her palms, and in her peripheral vision spotted something scratched upon the surface of a pillar that was hoisting up a balcony overlooking the square.

Upon closer examination she found the strange markings were words spelling out a brief, vengeful statement: _death to the traitor._ She stared at it curiously before her mind jumped to a sudden conclusion.

Could it be –

She pivoted to face the staircase behind her, catching a glimpse of Link's head just before he descended into the back streets. She hesitated for only a quick second before hurrying forth to follow he and the others, her suspicions rising and her dislike of the Hyrulean raging through her like whitewater. The faces of the murdered citizens leaped at her from the shadows of the alleys beside her and her hatred intensified.

_He did it._

Her face darkened and her muscles tensed; the knives beneath her sleeves began to extend, their silver tips flashing in the sunlight that managed to pervade the dark streets.

Link had slaughtered these people just like in the Isle Massacre. He had murdered them in cold blood, the same way he had murdered her family.

And he deserved the punishment he so rightly deserved –

But then, Katrina stopped herself and her knives retreated. She could not attack him here; she did not have the proper evidence that she needed.

But when she did gain knowledge of the truth, when she did gain the assurance that she had been right all along, then she would strike.

Only then would she be able to rightfully injure that Hylian – that bloodthirsty monster – knowing that everyone had been wrong to doubt her.

And it was only for that reason had she joined with Link in the beginning.

The group stopped abruptly when Link halted right by the east gates. To their left stood a small building and, hanging just beside its door was a sign reading, "Dr. Borville".

"Here's the doctor," Link stated bluntly. "You can all go in here if you can't handle what we just saw."

Picking up another meaning behind his words, Renée looked at him. "What, you're not coming with us?"

"I'm going to the castle," he answered. "I'm going to see if I can talk with the princess and tell her everything that's been going on with us, and maybe learn about what went on here. Then I'll come back here and get you guys. After that, we'll head off to find the next shard."

Mekial nodded his consent and let his gaze slide back to the doctor's office; his eyes locked upon the window and his brow furrowed when he caught a glimpse of movement.

"I'll go with you," Renée blurted out.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she replied without hesitation. "Do you remember Dijonay's vision? A guard was going to show you a poster, and it wasn't going to have any good information on it. Whatever happens, you might need some backup."

"In that case, I'll go, too," Brent offered. Katrina gave a silent nod of agreement, suggesting that she, too, would accompany them. Link did not question her motives, though perplexity passed over his face fleetingly.

"All of you are sure?" he asked again. "We'll have to go through the plaza again."

"We know," Renée said seriously. "We'll be fine."

Link said nothing more, instead voicing his compliance with a mere tip of his chin.

Then silently Brent stepped forward and opened the office door and carried his younger sibling inside where he laid her upon a small bed propped up against the wall.

Mekial followed him and after making sure that Dijonay was in a comfortable position, Brent departed closing the door behind him. Once the door had blocked his vision of everyone, Mekial looked down to Dijonay worriedly.

_"Is he gone?"_

The boy started at the hushed voice and his eyes grew large; he quickly surveyed the foyer before identifying the source of the voice as an old man who was partly hidden behind one of the cotton sheets that blocked off both the room he was standing in and the opposing room across the office's small corridor.

Enormous round glasses sat upon the long, curved nose of the brown-skinned elder and hooked behind his lengthy, pointed ears. Gray hair stuck out from each side of his head as though by static and two teeth poked out from both sides of his mouth, which was hanging open fearfully while his enlarged, pale green eyes jumped from Mekial to the door.

After taking in the man's unique appearance, the mage blinked before remembering where he had seen it before.

"You were watching us from the window!"

"Of course I was!" the elder exclaimed, deeming it safe to come into the open, and it was in the lobby's lighting that Mekial discovered he was hunchbacked. "I'm the one who works here, Dr. Borville! I should know who's talking noisily on my doorstep! And of all people to be there, I found that _murderer_ –" He cut off with a quick shake of his head. "I can't believe all of you were just standing around talking with him like he was a friend of yours!"

Mekial glanced at the door and pictured the remainder of his allies, trying to figure out which one the riled physician was speaking of. "Um…"

"Do you even know what that man _did_?" The doctor threw his hands into the air. "No, of course you wouldn't, you were _chatting _with him!"

Mekial scratched his head. "Who are you talking about, exactly?"

"Link!" the doctor burst loudly, causing Mekial to jump. "Why is he back? And why were you with him?!"

"I…" Mekial shrunk back a little. "I've been traveling with him for a while, now –"

"A while?" the hunchbacked senior echoed, his jaw dropping with astonishment. "How can you – that man slaughtered innocent civilians only two nights ago!"

"I –" Mekial frowned. "Wait, what?"

"That blasted youth – I've been seeing patients in here all day and all night ever since he and those soldiers ran through the streets killing everyone they found. Guess he went and got himself a new gig after being Telma's heavy didn't pay him enough…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing!" The doctor suddenly looked panicked. "I paid my debt, I swear! Well, err, most of it…!"

"What?" Mekial scratched his head, his frustration building. "What are you talking about? Look, I just needed something for my friend! She needs something for her stomach, I think, when she wakes up – she fainted because of what we saw in the plaza."

Dr. Borville appeared to have calmed at this piece of information and pushed his glasses up as he examined Dijonay from where he stood. "Hmm."

Without another sound he disappeared into the cotton-walled room that he emerged from and there was the faint sound of bottles clattering and clinking as he searched for an item that would aid his new patient. When he returned he held the selected item in hand and Mekial instantly recognized the dark red liquid of the renown red potion.

The doctor held the jar out to the young mage, who took it graciously and nodded his thanks. "Give that to her when she wakes up and she'll be fine," he explained and Mekial nodded once more in understanding.

The doctor then laced his hands behind his back and turned to walk away however, upon the arrival of a previous thought, stopped himself and rounded on the young magic-wielder yet again. "Why are you with that boy anyway?" he inquired, sounding more curious than angry, and Mekial looked up from his examination of the red potion.

"Link?" He placed the bottle on a table at the foot of the small bed and sat on the edge of the mattress. "My friend and I have been traveling with him for weeks." He paused in thought and silence settled over the pair, abruptly broken when Mekial spoke again, "But you said that you saw Link lead some soldiers through the city recently. What were you talking about?"

Dr. Borville exhaled slowly and averted his eyes to a corner of the room. "So you really don't know…" He fell silent for a short moment before releasing a dark sigh. "It was two nights ago," the old man started, his pale eyes growing distant. "Everything seemed to be as it always was: people milling about and heading home for the night… But then, our peace ended without warning, and the result was what you and your friend saw in the plaza."

Mekial did not speak.

"I was closing up for the night," the physician continued, his eyes still fastened to the corner as he recalled every detail of the event, "when a shriek suddenly split the air. It had come from the plaza. There was a moment of silence before more people started screaming, their shouts ending almost as quickly as they had sounded and, just as I was about to lock the door of my office, I saw a slew of soldiers rush down the alleys, battling each other. They were cutting each other down and demolishing anything that stood in their way, including innocent people. I reopened my door and ran inside, where I watched the rest from my window.

"Some of the soldiers, who I recognized as generals, ran through here" – he pointed to the door and Mekial assumed that he was indicating the road outside – "shouting for their soldiers to go to the east gates. They left the city with what looked like about a handful of regular soldiers, while the rest chased after them, trying to kill them before they got out. But I'll never forget the face of the man that was leading all of them: a Hylian, garbed in green, with an evil look in his blue eyes – that Link that you came in here with.

"Hours passed before those soldiers returned with that Hylian leading them again, and they all returned to the castle. Then Link came back out and, last I had heard, he left the city." Below a wrinkled brow Mekial's eyes descended to the floorboards beneath his muddy boots. "I've stayed away from the square ever since," Dr. Borville concluded quietly. "But I heard word that one of the officials who survived that night held some sort of rally there and told everyone to keep an eye out for Link if he should ever return." He scoffed. "Of course, most of the citizens are cowards – even if that official got them excited they all stay indoors. They're afraid of running into him, you see. They don't want to know if he comes back."

Mekial raised a hand to scratch his head, his face twisted with befuddlement. "But…that doesn't make any sense." The doctor's old face mimicked Mekial's.

"What doesn't?"

"Your story," Mekial uttered, "doesn't make any sense. Two nights ago" – he looked up at the doctor, resolve glowing in his eyes – "Link was with us."

Dr. Borville's glasses slid down his nose and hung for dear life on its hump while his mouth fell open. Quickly he regained composure, fixing his glasses and scrutinizing Mekial with a colossal-eyed stare. "That's impossible. I saw Link with my own two eyes!" He pointed a knobby finger at his large irises, leaning forward slightly, and Mekial leaned back, his hands up in a form of surrender.

"I'll take your word for it," he said. "But I saw Link, too. He couldn't have been here two nights ago…"

"Then maybe your Link is a phony!" the doctor countered, pointing at the boy accusingly. "After all, the Link everyone knows around here always wears green – and the Link that was here two nights ago was wearing green. But your friend Link was wearing brown. So clearly, yours is a fake." Mekial couldn't keep from rolling his eyes.

"Clothing color?" His tone epitomized sarcasm. "Really?"

"Nn…" Both the mage and doctor looked down to Dijonay at the sound of her moan and relief instantly eased Mekial's heart. The girl's head rolled to the side where she took a deep breath of the fresh pillow beneath her head and, for the first time in days, smiled pleasantly. But then her face fell, her eyes flew open and she shot up into a sitting position.

Mekial jumped and nearly fell off the bed.

"Where…" The prime minister's head turned left and right, her eyes absorbing the set up of the office. "Where am I?" Her eyes briefly fell upon the doctor before dropping to Mekial. "Where are we? Where's Brent? A-and Link?"

"They went to the castle," Mekial answered, "with Katrina and Renée. We're here at the doctor's office because you fainted. Oh." Remembering the red potion, he removed it from the nearby table and handed it to her. "Drink this. It's for your stomach."

Dijonay eyed the medicine distastefully but knowing it was for the best, took it and uncorked it. The unsatisfying smell of the drink shot out as soon as she had and she plugged her nose against it, and then hurriedly gulped it down, forcing herself to swallow its bitter taste. Though disgusted, Dijonay had to commend the inventor of red potion: her stomachache was already departing.

"Glad to see that you're faring well," the doctor said, attracting Dijonay's attention. "No need to worry: from what I've heard it doesn't seem you were out for too long."

"Dijonay," Mekial began and the girl looked at him next, noting the serious tone in his voice and dreading the information it carried, "the doctor said that all of those people are dead because the soldiers ran through and killed them all two nights ago." Dijonay's face fell with genuine grief and her stomach flipped as she recalled the state of the plaza. She lifted the red potion to her lips once again and drank a little more. "The doctor said Link was leading them."

The prime minister's eyes enlarged; she choked and hacked, spilling potion all over the bed sheets. "But – " She coughed and pounded her chest to repair her breathing – "Link was" – _cough_ – "Link was with us…"

"That's what I said," Mekial stated. "So it doesn't add up." The doctor muttered something that went unheard, as it was drowned beneath the loud hacks Dijonay emitted into her sleeve.

Her mind whirred as she registered Mekial's information and, like him, could not make any sense of it. As both she and her bodyguard knew, Link had been at the inn in Kakariko Village two nights previous and the day before he had been in the Goron Mines. How then could he have been in the capital, slaughtering innocent civilians at the same time?

Dijonay's presumptions from the night before returned to her, reminding her that, like the Isle Massacre, Link could have been framed.

It was the only plausible explanation, for there was no possible way for Link to be in two places at once. Unless there was someone else that bore his exact features, the Link that she and Mekial had been traveling with was not guilty of murder.

_He wasn't guilty…_

She froze as this fact dawned on her and her eyes grew large once more. A strange but somehow familiar sensation ran through her, sending peaceful tingles down her spine, and all at once the images of her vision flashed in her mind, their details enhanced, before they suddenly disappeared, leaving her feeling a strange sense of detachment from her own body.

Terror consumed her.

"Mekial, we have to go!" she exclaimed, leaping to her feet, and without letting him protest she grabbed him by the collar, wrenched the office door open and dragged him outside.

"Hey!" Dr. Borville rushed out after them, but by the time he had exited the young adults were already dashing down the road. "What about my pay?!"

"Dijonay, what's going on?" Mekial panted, practically scurrying to keep up with her long strides as they raced up a slope in the direction of the square. "Where are we going?"

"It happened, Mekial!" Dijonay gasped, skipping over a small straw basket and stumbling to regain her footing. "I felt it – it happened!"

Dread built within him as Mekial glanced up at her fearfully. "Y-you don't mean –" But Dijonay did not need to explain it to him for he knew that those words could only mean one thing: her vision had come to pass.

But just what that idea entailed and the way it made the girl panic so much was what worried Mekial the most.

He hastened his pace, his breath coming out in rasps as his lungs heaved for air, and together he and Dijonay sprinted into the plaza. Here Dijonay forced her eyes forward and dared not to gaze into the vacant stares of the corpses that surrounded her; though the scent of dead flesh still wrought her senses and sent her stomach into a burbling frenzy.

Mekial on the other hand glanced at a couple of the bodies as he dodged around them, unable to believe that they had been lying there for nearly two days.

With her eyes raised towards the rooftops that circled the city square, Dijonay hunted for some sort of archway or decorative passage that looked as though it would lead to the gates of a castle. Panning back and forth hastily, her eyes quickly located a high stone archway at the northern end of the plaza with two flags flanking each of its walls. Sewn into the surface of these flags was what Dijonay recognized to be the Triforce – the country's national insignia.

She changed her footing and tore for the passage, Mekial at her heels, and hurried up the stone ramp behind it. Glancing at the grand stone columns that lined the path, she perceived she was headed in the right direction.

This idea was strengthened when the sounds of ringing metal and raised voices fell upon her ears. She and her guard increased their speed and the path soon leveled out, revealing to them the exact gates that Dijonay had constantly seen in her dreams. Just as she had sensed they were open but were moving subtly; it took her only a few seconds to register that they were beginning to close.

Her eyes then fell to a small gray crowd in between the closing doors and through vision blurred by tears that formed as she sprinted, she saw that the mob was engrossed in a tight scuffle with steel blades flashing about. Soldiers made up the bulk of the small crowd but, glimpsed fleetingly in their desperate attempt at escape, were Katrina, Brent, Link and Renée.

As he ran Mekial mumbled a spell that glided past his lips with smooth perfection, all the while the shrinking gap between the doors becoming more obvious; with his heart thundering he began to chant as quickly as he could without stumbling over the words.

Her legs heavier than lead Dijonay kept running, wanting nothing more than to save her comrades even if she did not know how to do so.

She should have never doubted him. She should have warned him when she had the chance.

Perhaps then Link would have been safe.

_I should have told him._

Submerged beneath reinforcements that flooded in from the castle grounds, Dijonay could see that her four allies were losing their fight. She could see the rope being flung around their wrists; their backs forced to bend as they were ordered to surrender –

Mekial leaped forward and as the last syllables of his spell flew from his tongue, he landed a few paces ahead of Dijonay and raised his arms.

Instantly the ground jolted, sending Dijonay to her knees, and with a thunderous crack it split apart; gray stalagmites burst from the earth one after the other, each taller than the last as they tore for the castle gates. Tremors ran through the walkway, forcing Dijonay to stagger as she drew herself to her feet and watched the racing pillars with rising anxiety.

But just as they reached them the gates slammed shut with a resounding, heart-wrenching _thud_ and on contact the peak of the rocks shattered, littering the ground with debris.

Dijonay's heart sank and she fell to her knees. Behind her Mekial gasped with exhaustion and bent over, gripping his thighs.

And it was in that moment Dijonay remembered: even if she tried to prevent her vision from happening, she would only delay it. Once her Foresight revealed an event, there was no stopping it. It had to happen.

And it always did.

Water built in her eyes and her head dropped over her lap, her face scrunching as bitter tears tumbled from her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

She could never have prevented it.

_I'm sorry…_


	53. Chapter 52

**Chapter Fifty-Two**

_Keep running._

But his lungs burned.

_ Don't stop._

But his body was aching.

_Keep going._

But his vision was blurring.

_Don't stop…_

Someone screamed behind him and the sound rattled his skull like an explosion, piercing his ears and sending the blood rushing to his head.

Morbex opened his mouth to cry out, lifted his hands to cover his ears, but something latched around his neck and yanked him back, lifting his feet from the polished floors of his palace and sending him careening backwards.

His back smashed into the ground and a shout died, strangled, in his throat. His blurry vision stared up at nothingness, his head throbbing until his mind registered the blackness above as a dark, high-vaulted ceiling. He sat up, silver hair sticking to his sweaty, pale forehead and his eyes falling upon two pairs of feet in front of him.

Pain coursed through his neck as he lifted his chin to view the owners of these feet and through hazy vision he recognized the face of his brother hovering over him, the smooth contours of his face disfigured by an infinite hatred that burned in his scarlet eyes.

Morbex shrank beneath him, fear swallowing him whole, and with legs that grew number with each passing second he inched back, his eyes diverting his attention towards the man that stood at his brother's side. Though the man's countenance was obscured in shadow his presence was familiar, and relief embraced Morbex's heart.

"Kelvis – !"

But a sharp, burning sensation erupted in his chest and cut off his speech; his body convulsed and a petrifying scream of agony ripped out from the pit of his being. His head fell back and the pain intensified, searing him from within.

And Malbex watched stoically, his hand outstretched with fingers extended and the energy of his spell leaping about his fingertips in sparks of light.

Morbex's eyes rolled back and his body writhed with anguish; his head spun and the level of his howl increased; his thoughts shattered, pressure threatened to crack his skull –

Unending, unrestrained –

But then he sat up and in an instant the pain was gone.

Morbex sat, breathing heavily, as the light of morning pervaded his senses, filling his nostrils with the scent of earth and tingling his skin with the warm air that seeped in through the open window. The imp brought his hands out from beneath the sheets of his bed and looked at them then ran them through his longish, silver-gray hair. He was not in Eldonis anymore.

This was Ordon.

This was Hyrule.

But he had brought Eldonis with him: that dream had felt so real, as if it had truly happened…

As the boy's awakening thoughts found order once more, he remembered – those events _had_ happened. He lowered his hands and straightened up, his red eyes cast towards the tossed blankets that had been knocked askew during his troubled sleep. That dream had been the day Malbex had betrayed him.

And it had also been the day Morbex had betrayed Kelvis.

The imp grabbed a fistful of the blanket and gritted his teeth, his eyes swimming with regret.

"Talo, what are you doing? You can't go running back into the forest!"

"I'm not _running into_ the forest I'm _looking _at it! There's a difference, Beth!"

"You're standing pretty close to be 'looking' at it, don't you think?"

Morbex shifted on the bed to look at the circular window behind him as the voices of the village children floated inside. He threw the blanket aside, freeing his legs and approached the wooden porthole where he leaned over its lower frame in order to get a view of what was going on outside.

Down below he could spot the small forms of the Ordonian children, excluding Colin and his younger sister. During his first few months of being conscious in this small community, Morbex had gotten to know the children on simple terms, learning a few of their likes and dislikes and some of their favorite pastimes.

The longer he stayed with them, the more the foreigner realized that the children greatly enjoyed gathering in front of Link's tree house and talking in loud voices, almost as if they wanted to be heard.

His red eyes identified each of the small beings below and he reminded himself of each of their names: there was Malo, the youngest and yet mentally the oldest; Beth, the tallest; and Talo, Malo's older brother, who was standing rather close to the edge of the road that led into the woods of the neighboring province.

Morbex himself had been curious of what lurked in the forests of that region but had been warned by the mayor that journeying into such an area was the same as a death wish.

"Strange things have been going on in there," Bo had said, frowning deeply. But for some reason it seemed the children were not afraid of whatever it was Bo wanted them to stay away from. Perhaps it was because they were children and thus ignorant of danger they acted this way.

"Man, what I'd give to go back in there," Talo mused, placing his fists on his hips and gazing longingly down the dirt road. "Link gets to go down there all the time, and so does Fado! Aww, I wish I was as old as them…"

"Well, you'll get to be that old eventually," Malo informed his sibling, shuffling forward to stand beside him and join in his gazing.

"I can't wait!" Talo exclaimed, pumping his fists into the air and turning. "I miss all of those games I used to be able to play with the monkeys." Morbex's small eyebrows raised and he placed a hand under his jaw, listening intently. "You guys remember Rosa, right?"

"The monkey with the rose on her head that you named accordingly?" Malo asked. "Yes."

"We used to play the best game," Talo started, "where she'd – "

"Yeah, yeah, we know already," Beth interrupted, waving a hand as though she were shooing a fly. "She'd come into the village and steal your wooden sword and whenever she did you'd go into the forest and hunt her down like you were some kind of adventurer and get it back." She sighed. "I told you not to name her and play with her like that: you'd only get attached! And now that you can't see her anymore that game is all you ever think about! Try to find something else to do around the village, why don't you?"

"Hey, Rosa and I are friends!" Talo burst. "Of course I'd name her – and there's nothing to do around this boring place, anyway. Can't go into the forest because of those weird shadow monsters…" Malo looked away from his brother and up to the tree house while his sibling looked back into the forest. "In fact, since I heard about those shadow things, I've been kind of worried. I hope those monkeys are doing okay…"

"Morbex, you're awake." Both Talo and Beth looked up at Malo's statement and followed his eyes to the circular window on the upper half of Link's abandoned house.

"Morbex!" Talo exclaimed, his once solemn spirits rising when he spotted the outlander's face. "Hey, you should come down here and hang out with us! Maybe we could all find something to do around the village together!"

Beth crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Okay!" Morbex withdrew into the house to dress before carefully descending each floor's ladder and emerging outside. Galled by the way his cursed body was already a bit out of breath he climbed down the ladder leaning against the tree house's deck and joined the small band of children.

"Y'know, Morbex, I've been kinda wondering," Talo started as the boy approached, inspecting the foreigner's appearance, "why are you blue?"

"Talo!" Beth slapped the boy's arm. "Our parents said to not be rude!"

"No, it's fine," Morbex assured, smiling at her and then turning to Talo. "It's…a condition, really. Nothing that can't be fixed in time."

"But you've been drinking red potions at almost every meal since you woke up!" Talo returned, frowning quizzically. "Shouldn't the 'condition' be fixed by now?"

"Yes…well…" Morbex looked away sadly, for the young boy was right. Perhaps this curse that Malbex had placed upon him could not be described as a simple condition.

His face fell as he recalled his sibling's stoical expression from his dream, despite the fact that he had inflicted a painful transformation upon his younger relative. The agony was refreshed in his mind and, cringing in a slight but unnoticeable way, Morbex reached beneath his two-winged jacket and clutched his chest.

"Look, you're making him upset!" Beth scolded, eyeing Talo angrily. "Say you're sorry!" Talo matched her glare with a scowl of his own.

"You're not my mom, Beth!"

"Apologize!"

"No, Miss Beth, it's fine, really," Morbex tried to calm the young girl down, smiling sheepishly.

Beth glanced at him, her eyes sparkling at the formal way he addressed her. Ever since he had learned her name he had referred to her as "Miss" and the title made her feel rather important – almost as though she were royalty.

"Talo's right," the blue-skinned child continued. "Maybe this isn't as simple as I thought it was." The glow in Beth's eyes disappeared to be replaced by a frown of dissatisfaction that she directed at Talo. But, as per Morbex's request, she dropped the subject. "And Talo, what were you talking about earlier? You said that there were 'shadows' in the woods?"

"Oh, yeah." Talo's face became troubled yet again.

"We don't know exactly what they look like," Malo piped up and Morbex dropped his eyes to him. "Fado told us that he saw them after a milk delivery to the capital. He said they stood like humans but they were dressed in dark cloaks and had misty clouds floating around where their feet should be. He also said that he saw them suck the life out of some regular monsters."

As Malo described the creatures' appearance to him, Morbex's eyes had narrowed.

Why were the Shadows of Eldonis in Hyrule? This question drifted about his mind for a short moment before a possible answer arose: could Malbex have succeeded in gaining their support?

But no, that could not be. The Shadows were reclusive creatures and sought to remain hidden away from people; rarely did they leave their territory. Such beings would never agree to ally themselves with anyone.

But if they had not joined with Malbex, why else would they be in Hyrule? The idea troubled him and a deep frown etched itself upon his face.

"Fado said the shadow things grabbed the monsters by the neck and strangled them," Beth added with concern. "Then they left their bodies there and disappeared on the spot." Her face crumpled and she covered it with her hands. "I hope those things don't show up here. They sound really scary…"

"Yeah," Malo agreed. "I sure wouldn't want to cross paths with something like that."

"And that's why you can't go into the forest Talo!" Beth suddenly burst, rounding on the boy. "You might get caught by those things!"

"I know that already," Talo grumbled. "But still…"

"Now that I think about it, isn't Rusl kind of in the same condition?" Malo blurted out, looking up at Beth and Talo curiously. "He's not dead like the monsters but he's still…I don't know, acting kind of dead."

"Malo!" Beth's voice was hushed and panicky. "We weren't supposed to bring him up, remember? The mayor didn't want us to talk about him – "

"Who's Rusl?" Morbex spoke over her inquisitively, looking at each of their disquieted faces. Though he had been in the village for a long while, he had never heard the man's name uttered before.

"Well, we were supposed to keep him a secret, but I guess it was bound to get out eventually," Beth sighed. "Rusl is Colin's father. Around a month before you showed up, he went in the forest to go hunting. Link and the rest of the men from the village went to get him because they heard him yelling in the woods, and when he came back he was…was…" Her brow puckered and she looked at the ground, searching for the correct words to use.

"In a coma?" Malo offered and Beth nodded.

"Yeah. He's been asleep ever since they took him out of the woods. Even now, he's still in his house sleeping."

"Colin hasn't been the same since it happened," Talo noted remorsefully, staring at the ground. "I mean, sometimes he'll come out and play with us but on most days he's really distant. You probably noticed, too." Talo was looking at Morbex now and the imp nodded.

The quietest of the children, Colin had proven himself to be the most aloof as Talo had said. Now knowing the reason why, Morbex felt a pang of empathy for the boy, for he knew how it felt to lose a close friend or relative to the misfortunes of life.

As this thought floated about his mind, Morbex gathered together the rest of the details he had been given about the Shadow sightings and Rusl's strange coma. He pieced these two bits together and believed that it might have been possible that Rusl had been attacked by a Shadow.

Though the creatures were rarely seen in Eldonis, they did not let themselves become mere folklore. Occasionally and at random some Shadows would depart their lands and journey into the territory of Eldonis, where they would latch their gangly hands around the neck of an animal and strangle it to death.

However, upon further studies Morbex's people had found that the Shadows did more than just strangle their victims: apparently their fingers bore upon them small pores that ejected fatal poisons into the neck of the animal, which would then travel through their body and enter the brain where significant swelling would ensue. This would usually result in a coma if the Shadow did not strangle its prey to death first or if the animal succeeded in breaking free.

After hearing Rusl's story Morbex wondered if this same fate had befallen him. But he did not conclude this so quickly – there was, after all, the chance that he was overanalyzing and that Rusl's condition had been caused by something more common to the land of Hyrule.

As such, the foreigner gave no visual hint of his ideas, for he did not wish to excite the children by voicing his assumptions and, by doing so, stating that he might be able to help restore Rusl's consciousness.

However upon reconsideration, he wondered if he should say something. What if remaining silent was not the right choice? What if he was correct and there was the possibility that he could in fact save Rusl?

It would only be just, he realized. After all, the villagers of Ordon had saved his life; who was he to not seize the chance to possibly save one of theirs?

Deciding on this he requested that the children take him to Rusl, adding that there was a small chance that he might know the reason for his extended slumber. When Talo inquired if Morbex was suggesting he might know a way to help the swordsman, the foreigner shook his head.

"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully. "I can only know if I see him."

After exchanging incredulous glances with one another, the children agreed to take him to Rusl and turned, leading him down the narrow dirt path that wound back into Ordon Village.

There, they followed the trail to where it ended at the doorway of Colin's home, which was a humble little cottage nestled at the crown of one of the village's small hills. Upon arrival Talo knocked on its door and stood back, waiting apprehensively for someone on the opposing end to allow the group entry.

After a pause footsteps could be heard within the house and Colin's mother, Uli, opened the door. Located in the living room behind her the visitors on her doorstep could see Colin sitting on the couch with his younger sister, who was surrounded by an assortment of baby toys.

"Oh, good morning," Uli greeted politely, her tired face forcing a smile. "Are you all here to play with Colin?" She turned slightly and at the sound of his name her son looked at her and then to his friends on the threshold.

"Good morning, Miss Uli," the children chorused courteously as Colin displaced himself from the sofa and moved to his mother's side.

"We're here because Morbex wanted to come," Beth started, gesturing to the blue-skinned boy beside her.

"Oh? Our village guest wanted to pay us a visit, did he?" Uli looked at Morbex and it was then he noticed how weary and worn her young face was. With shadows darkening the skin beneath her blue eyes and her artificial smile nearly transparent, she appeared greatly exhausted. "Well, why don't all of you come inside? I bet Colin could use the company. And Ariel, too." Her daughter threw one of the stuffed animals in front of her into the air, giggling merrily. "She loves to hang out with all of you."

With that said the woman stepped aside, placing a hand on Colin's shoulder for him to do the same, and granted the small party entrance into their household. Silently the group filed inside and Uli closed the door in their wake, sealing them within the weak strength of the lamps situated throughout the circular room.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, Morbex identified the outline of the sofa located a few feet away from the door with Ariel still happily entertaining herself on it. Directly to the left of this couch stood the dinner table with the remainders of a small breakfast scattered across its surface, and further in the back of the room Morbex noticed a small hallway, with one door on its furthest end and another located on its right side.

Rusl was probably behind one of those doors, Morbex speculated and sadness took over his countenance. His eyes turned to Uli, who was by now in the small kitchen behind the dining table gathering small snacks for her new guests, and he briefly caught sight of her visage: she looked even more haggard than when they had arrived.

"Help yourselves," she announced as she placed a plate of bread rolls and butter on the table, and eagerly the children gathered around and snatched at the wheat snack like a pack of hungry wolves.

Morbex's stomach growled with envy, but he did not move to join them. Instead he searched for somewhere to sit and as he did a baby rattle crashed into the side of his head.

Rubbing at the sore spot he turned to see who had assailed him and found Ariel leaning over the sofa's arm and pointing at him with a big, one-toothed grin. She giggled loudly and Morbex could not help but smile back.

But as soon as he had Ariel's ecstatic beam vanished and she shrunk into the safety of the couch; Morbex turned away, both ashamed and embarrassed.

"So, Morbex." Morbex's eyes were drawn to Uli and his hand fell away from his head. "How are you enjoying your stay in the village?"

"I'm grateful for it," the boy replied candidly. "I only wish that there was some way I could repay you all. Your hospitality is most appreciated."

Uli gave another strained smile. "I'm glad you think so," she said, taking a cloth that hung from the kitchen wall and proceeding to wipe off the countertops that bordered the sink. "So, what is it that you came here for?"

Morbex hesitated only for a second. "To repay you."

"Eh?" Uli lifted her head from her work and stared at him.

"I've…heard about your husband," Morbex began slowly. "I'm sorry that you and your family have to deal with that."

"Where…" Uli straightened, her grip tightening on the kitchen cloth. "Where did… Who told you?" Suddenly Morbex found himself at a loss of words.

"I…uh…"

"W-we told him, Miss Uli," Talo admitted after swallowing a mouthful of buttered bread. "It kinda…slipped." Uli frowned at him and parted her lips to speak, but Beth beat her to the action.

"He said he might know what made Mister Rusl go into a coma," she squeaked. "So…"

"You might know what's wrong with him?" Uli turned to Morbex, her drawn face now a picture of skepticism. "We contacted the doctor from the capital, and not even he could find out what the cause was."

"Well, there's a slight possibility that his condition could have been caused by something that isn't common in Hyrule," Morbex explained before he could stop himself, "something that might be common in my country. But I need to see him first, in order to find out if I'm right."

Uli regarded him sternly before turning to frown at the floor, suspicions hovering about her mind.

Though she was grateful that Morbex wanted to help, there was nothing that he could possibly do. The doctor had lacked any kind of knowledge that concerned Rusl's condition; how then could this foreigner, a mere boy, know something?

There was nothing that he could do, Uli told herself and her face fell as this understanding hit her. There was nothing anyone could do but wait, like she was, for her husband to wake up on his own.

_If he ever wakes up…_

Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of Rusl's eyes never opening; at the thought of never seeing his smile again; of never watching him entertain their children with his tales of adventure.

Of never having him hold her again, or kiss her again…

These thoughts overwhelmed her and she quickly turned and leaned on the countertop, her face tipped towards the depths of the sink as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

For months she had been hoping – for months she had sat by him as he slept, praying for the heavenly Sisters to perform a miracle and draw her spouse back into reality. But nothing had changed. More often than not she wondered if the heavenly bodies could even hear her prayers.

Rusl was still lying in the bed, his eyes closed in peaceful rest that she feared he would never depart from. He still could not hear her whisper to him, begging him to look at her. His only movement was the simple rise and fall of his chest as he breathed and every time it dropped she panicked, wondering if, by some divine prank, the goddesses would hold it down and let Uli watch her husband die.

She closed her eyes and drew a hand to her mouth in deep thought. Perhaps letting Morbex see her husband would not be such a bad idea, she decided. After all, she had nothing to lose.

Her hope of his awakening any time soon had left her long ago, she finally realized. If Morbex truly could do nothing, then she would simply return to waiting.

"I see." Her voice was just a bit croaky and she cleared her throat. After wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she refaced Morbex. "He's in our room right now." She placed the kitchen towel back on its hook and advanced towards the short hallway. "If you'll just follow me – the rest of you can wait here, okay?" Her eyes met the concerned faces of the children before she turned away, opened the door at the hall's furthest end and entering the room beyond it with Morbex behind her.

The lighting of the square bedroom was a bit brighter than that of the living room, Morbex observed, illuminating the objects within the area with more vigor. A tall but slim wardrobe was placed against the right wall with a small dresser standing beside it, and leaning upon the wall with the dresser as a foundation was an oval shaped mirror, which reflected in it the few family portraits that hung on the opposite wall and the form of a being lying on the bed.

Uli was walking towards this person by the time Morbex had noticed him and she knelt beside him and rested her forearms on the mattress by his head. Quietly Morbex approached, his feet almost silent on the large rug that took up most of the floor, and he stopped a few paces behind the woman, where he was granted a high view of Rusl's face.

As he studied the man Morbex noticed the facial features that he shared with both his son and daughter, mainly the arc of his nose and the shape of his forehead. As most would appear when in a coma peace graced Rusl's features, greatly contrasting against the sadness that had befallen the face of his wife.

Morbex's discerning red eyes examined the swordsman's face for a second longer before sliding down to his neck, which was only partly guarded by an open collar. Morbex took a few steps closer and leaned forward so as to get a better view of the man's exposed neck and inhaled sharply.

Peculiar red stripes lined the swordsman's neck, circling to his nape and miniscule red dots were sprinkled along these strange marks, their diameters so small that Morbex had to squint to see them. He drew back and swallowed.

"How long has he been like this?" he inquired quietly.

"Close to two months," Uli answered, sitting up. "Perhaps a little more."

Morbex closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "Miss Uli," he began gravely, "I don't want to scare you" – Uli's eyes darted up to him, wide beneath furrowed eyebrows – "but it seems your husband was attacked. This coma is not normal," he looked down at her, "and I'm surprised he's survived this long."

"What do you mean?" Uli got to her feet, ignoring the way her knees wanted to buckle beneath her rising panic. "Do you know what's wrong? What attacked him?"

"In my country they are called Shadows," the boy began to explain, "and they are known to attack without being provoked. When they strike they strangle their victims and release poisonous fluids into their neck. This poison travels up into the victim's brain and causes immense swelling, which can result in a coma. Unless they are stopped, not only will they put the victim to sleep, but they will also strangle them to death.

"Your husband was lucky," Morbex looked at Rusl. "Had he been held for perhaps even a moment longer, he would've been killed. Chances are he fought back or someone else stepped in to save him.

"Even so, the poison that has entered your husband's brain has probably been sent into his bloodstream, where it's slowly deteriorating his body from the inside. Death should have claimed him nearly weeks ago, or maybe a bit more. Why he's still alive is beyond me…" Puzzlement settled across his face while Uli's mouth fell open in horror. She raked her hands through her short, blonde hair, her heart pounding and her eyes watering.

"No…" she moaned and her face fell into her hands. "No, no, no! You said you could help him!" she nearly shrieked, lifting her face to reveal her reddening cheeks. Morbex turned to her, seemingly unfazed by her sudden change in demeanor.

"Miss Uli, I – "

"How can you just burst in here and tell me that my husband is dying?!" Uli screamed, her voice ringing in his ears as Morbex tried to speak over her again.

"Miss Uli, I can – " But Uli ignored him.

"Rusl! _Rusl_!" She fell by her husband's side and gripped him by the shoulders. "Rusl! You have to wake up!" She shook him violently. "Rusl!"

"Miss Uli – !"

"Rusl! Open your eyes –!"

"_Enough!_" Morbex bellowed, his voice rattling the portraits on the wall with the force of a clap of thunder and rendering Uli silent. The boy's eyes burned fiercely, and with a tear-stained visage Uli craned her neck to see him. He looked strangely taller. "If you want to save him, panicking won't do anything! Your husband is dying, that much is true, but you need to listen to me!" Uli sniffed and her shoulders sagged along with her drooping head. Morbex's tense posture loosened.

"There is a cure," he stated in a normal tone and Uli choked on a sob. "It's rather common all across the world: water, blessed by the spirits that the goddesses placed upon the earth so long ago… Back home, we referred to it as Ernelle – but here, you all might know it as Fairy water."

Uli pivoted on the rug to face him, her eyes wide and hope bursting in her heart. "F-fairy water?" Morbex nodded. "W-we have a spring nearby! Just outside of Link's house: there's plenty of Fairy water there!"

"Then we should go and get some," Morbex said simply. "But we should hurry; I don't know how much time he has left."

Nodding briskly, Uli jumped to her feet and exited the bedroom, ignoring the surprised expressions of the children as she rummaged through the kitchen for an empty bottle. After casting a concerned glance at Rusl's sleeping face Morbex, too, departed, where he was greeted by the wide-eyed stares of the youngest members of Ordon.

His lips parted to speak but before he could do so Colin stepped forth, his brow crinkled and a mix of worry and wonder glowing in his large, blue eyes.

Morbex gave him an encouraging nod and the boy diverted his gaze to his mother.

"Mom?" he called as the woman finally located a bottle on the uppermost shelf of one of the cabinets. "What's going on?"

"You were screaming," Talo reminded her numbly, breadcrumbs splattered on his cheeks. "What went on in there?"

"We're going to save your father, Colin," Uli announced frankly, hoisting herself onto the counter in order to better reach the bottle. "But we need to hurry – you'll stay here with me and we'll watch him but, um…" Her fingers slid around the container's body and she slipped off the counter with it in hand. She then turned and her eyes bounced from each child's face fleetingly before resting on Talo.

"Talo, take this to the mayor," she instructed, holding the jug out to him. "Tell him to fill it with Fairy water and then come back here. It can save Rusl!" Uli's face broke out into a smile and even from where he stood Morbex could tell that it was genuine.

"R-really?!" Talo swiped the bottle from Uli's hands. "I'm on it!" He hopped out of his chair, rushed towards the door and opened it. Just before he took a step outside he turned back to face Colin and with an energetic grin gave him a thumbs-up. "Leave it to me!"

Colin, still stunned by the grand news he had heard, did nothing more than give Talo a slight nod.

With a small laugh, Talo faced the outdoors again and dashed outside, letting the door shut behind him. His nimble legs moved with haste in the direction of the mayor's household, his face bright and the empty bottle clutched tightly in his small hand.

Uli approached Morbex slowly, her watery eyes shining with gratitude and her hands clasped over her chest. "Thank you, Morbex." She fell to her knees before him and to Morbex's surprise, reached forward and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Thank you so much…"

Heat burned the imp's blue cheeks. "Y-you're welcome…"


	54. Chapter 53

**Chapter Fifty-Three**

"Hey, Mayor!" Talo shoved the mayor's doors open and ran inside, searching the dim office for the large citizen. Quickly he spotted him seated at his desk, his head raised and his squinty eyes fixed on the boy that had disturbed his work.

"Not now, Talo," he sighed, rubbing his forehead wearily. "What did ya do this time?"

"I didn't do anything!" Talo protested hotly, hurrying to the mayor's table. "It was Morbex! But he didn't do anything bad!" he rushed when Bo started in his chair.

"Then what _did _he do? Something good, I hope."

"Yeah!" Talo dumped the bottle onto the mayor's desk and Bo eyed it inquisitively. "He found a way to save Mister Rusl!" Bo's eyes leaped to the boy's face, which had by now turned towards the ceiling to call to Illia, whom he presumed was in her room upstairs. "Didja hear, Illia? Morbex found a way to save Colin's dad!"

"She ain't here," Bo informed him and Talo's face fell down to him. "She's at the ranch. Said someone needed to help Fado out in Link's absence."

"Oh."

"But how did Morbex find out what was wrong with Rusl?"

"I don't know," Talo shrugged. "He and Colin's mom went into the room Mister Rusl was in and they yelled at each other for a bit. But then Colin's mom came back out and said that we need some Fairy water. She also said to hurry."

Bo frowned at Talo's interesting description of the event but chose not to press the matter any further. "I see. And she wants me to get the water?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, since you said no one else can really go in there…" Bo looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"_Now_ you pay attention to the rules?" Talo made a face and looked away, embarrassed, only to turn back to the mayor when he rose from his seat and plucked the bottle off of his desk. "I'll take care of this," he declared. "And she said to hurry?" Talo nodded fervently. "All right. Lemme just go and get my sword then I'll be off. You head on back to Uli and let her know that I'll have that Fairy water at her house in no time at all."

"Okay!" Grinning and nodding his understanding, Talo spun around and exited the mayor's house. Once outside his joy seemed to expand, taking up the never-ending space around him and making him leap with delight.

Who would have known that Morbex would be able to save Rusl? Who would have known that Rusl could even be saved?

Truthfully, Talo had often found himself doubting Rusl's recovery, for he had never known someone to sleep for so long. But now, having learned that the man could be saved, Talo's excitement grew, as did his appreciation for Morbex.

Now, because of that strange-colored boy, Colin would no longer be sad and neither would Uli. No longer would a sense of dread and melancholy hang over their home like a black cloud, darkening their expressions and those of anyone who dared to venture close.

But what Talo found to be the most reassuring was that he could now go back to learning how to swordfight from Rusl. Now he could be assured that when he was older, he would be as good a fighter as he and Link were.

When that day came he would travel across the land and journey to other countries, battling monsters and creating adventurous tales of his own. They would surpass the stories of Link and Rusl, Talo thought to himself. In every fearsome encounter he had they would be better.

But before that the boy figured he should probably try to go over the basics that Rusl had been teaching he and Colin before he had been forced under his coma. After all, it had been a while since his last lesson and he did not want his teacher to think that he was getting rusty.

This thought in mind, Talo changed his footing after crossing the small bridge that spanned across the village stream, intending to return home and retrieve his wooden weapon. As he turned however, his skin crawled and a peculiar sensation ran through him, warning him that something was observing him from afar.

Tensing the boy looked around, his eyes stopping on anything he thought to be moving until they fastened upon something standing by the gate that led back to Link's tree house. Talo stopped walking, analyzing the being from where he stood before he finally registered it as one of the many forest monkeys. His face split into a broad smile.

"You're okay…!"

The monkey scratched its head and it was then Talo saw the brilliant pink flower nestled just above its left ear. His mouth fell open and he lowered his gaze to the monkey's opposite hand where a familiar object was detained in its fingers.

His sword.

Rosa, seeing that Talo had spotted her find, jumped in feigned surprise and turned, scurrying through the gates and vanishing around the corner. Talo stared after her for a moment, unable to believe that after all this time the animal still remembered their friendly game.

Without a second thought he smiled and took off after her, dashing around the corner behind Ordon's gate and sprinting into the woods.

* * *

Morbex sat quietly in the corner of Uli's living room, his face turned towards the window that viewed the mountain range encircling the entire village. After hugging him, Uli had gone with Colin and Ariel into her bedroom where they would watch to make sure that nothing unfortunate happened to the swordsman while he slept. Beth and Malo had left soon after Talo had, intending to inform the other adults of the good news.

Morbex rested his elbow on a nearby nightstand and placed his hand under his chin.

Though he did not show it he was glad that he had helped Uli, like he believed the remaining villagers soon would be. But still he found himself wondering if something else had granted Rusl the gift of good health; after all, the man should not have survived longer than a month after the Shadow's venom had entered his bloodstream.

Unless there was a factor that Morbex had missed, the father's present condition was nothing short of a miracle.

_Or perhaps the result of the prayers of a hopeful wife, _he added thoughtfully.

Just as Morbex moved to redirect his eyes to the innards of the house, something moved upon the mountaintops, attracting his attention. His gaze darted about the crown of the rocky hill, searching for whatever it was that had moved until he found it.

And his heart stopped.

Then the door burst open, startling him and nearly causing him to leap out of his chair.

Standing upon the doormat of the house was Beth, her cheeks pink and her chest heaving as her lungs gasped for air. Her turquoise gaze panned across the abode until she spotted Morbex, his single visible eye watching her silently. Behind her a shadow grew on the ground until its owner appeared: it was Malo, strolling inside casually.

"Morbex," Beth gasped, "where's…where's Miss Uli?"

"She's –" But before he could finish his sentence the door to Uli's bedroom opened and the woman herself appeared. "There."

"Miss Uli!" Beth stumbled forward, grabbing at a stitch in her chest. "I told everyone the good news! They're all really happy for you."

"Oh, that's good, Beth," Uli smiled. "Why are you so out of breath? Did you run all around the village?" Too busy gasping and panting, Beth nodded.

"Is Talo back yet?" Malo inquired, journeying further into the house and stopping by Beth's side.

"No," Uli replied as Beth bent over to hold her knees. She laughed lightly. "My, Beth, I never knew you could get so tired!"

"He should be back, though," Colin pointed out, exiting his parents' quarters with Ariel in his arms. "Wonder what he got distracted by."

"We should probably go find him before he gets into some kind of trouble," Malo suggested. "Or before he hurts himself."

"Good idea. Hey, Morbex!" Colin turned to the foreigner in the corner and the boy looked at him. "Can you help us find Talo?"

"Yeah…" Colin held his sister up to his mother, who took her from him and watched as the children left to hunt for their friend. Rising from his seat, Morbex turned his eyes back to the window. The Shadow was gone.

Worry consumed him and questions raced through his thoughts.

Why was the Shadow here? Was it working for Malbex? If it was, had Malbex finally decided to retrieve him? Or was it simply scouting the area for him so that it could return to Malbex with his location and allow the man to come and get Morbex himself?

Morbex swallowed and shook himself out of his trance, knowing that standing there and panicking would solve nothing. He removed himself from the window and exited the house, hoping – praying – that the Shadow would not harm any of the villagers. They did not deserve to get involved in the dilemma growing between he and his brother. The villagers were peaceful, kind people and deserved a peaceful, kind life.

So if Morbex had to offer himself up to the Shadow to save them, he would.

As such he remained conscious of his surroundings as he joined Beth, Malo and Colin in the hunt for Talo. After discovering that he was not at the mayor's house they chose to search the village, shouting his name and searching every corner of the community for his face.

Their voices were heard by the parents and, after learning of the predicament, the adults joined in the search. It was not until they had been sure that they searched every nook and cranny of the village did Morbex gather with the three youths by the stream while the adults decided to double-check any hiding place that they knew of.

"Anyone find anything?" Colin asked, exchanging worried glances with them. Beth shook her head, as did Morbex; but Malo spoke up.

"I wouldn't say it's what I found," he said grimly. "It's more like what I didn't find: Talo's sword."

At this Beth groaned and covered her face while Colin rubbed his forehead. "Oh no…"

Morbex, quickly recalling what Malo's declaration might propose, looked towards the village gate and the image of the Shadow appeared in his mind, its dark cloak flapping in the gentle breeze and the clouds by its feet sliding down the mountainside.

He clenched a fist by his side and turned to fully face the gate. Although he did not know why the Shadow had appeared, he would not stand idly by while it wandered about when Talo was within easy range.

"He's in the forest then, right?" he said to the trio over his shoulder.

"Most likely," Colin answered sadly. "The mayor said strange things have been going on in there."

"I know." Morbex's red eye peeked back at them, sending shivers down their spine. "I'm going to get him."

Beth and Malo stared at him and, taking a step forward, Colin spoke up. "I'll go with you."

"No, you won't." Morbex rounded on them, his face serious and his red irises piercing them, chilling them to their bones. When he spoke again he sounded much older than he appeared, "You're going to stay here," he ordered. "It's too dangerous for any of you. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"But I can fight!" Colin argued.

"No, stay here," Morbex said again. "Please. I'll get him back. I promise." The resolve in Colin's eyes faded and he fell back, nodding glumly.

"It's dangerous for you, too, you know!" Beth piped up, unwilling to relent. "What if you and Talo both get hurt?"

"Just trust me." Morbex made to walk away. "I'll be fine."

Without waiting for the children to voice another complaint Morbex jogged away, hurrying for the gate and disappearing around its bend before any of the adults could spot him.

Once in the clearing before Link's tree house he stopped, spotting a black silhouette emerging from the depths of the woods. His muscles tightened and his teeth clenched; but he relaxed when Bo stepped into the late morning sun, a bottle of Fairy water in his hand.

"Ah, Morbex," he greeted. "Headin' back to the tree house to take a nap? Them kids gotcha tired, I see." He laughed lightly but, when Morbex did not join him, he frowned. "Where are you off to?"

Morbex saw no point in lying. "The forest." Before Bo could react he quickly explained Talo's absence and the prospect that he was somewhere in the woods playing games with the monkeys. Bo gritted his teeth and scratched his baldhead angrily.

"That kid…always disobeyin' me…" He grumbled something that Morbex could not hear before addressing him again. "Take this to Uli and I'll go get him." Bo extended the hand with the Fairy water, but Morbex pushed it aside.

"No, I'm going to get him," he said firmly. "If you want to come with me then fine." Bo frowned down at him, squinting one eye and widening the other.

"Excuse me?"

Morbex did not let himself falter. "I said I'm going to get him."

"No, you listen to me," Bo said, pointing at him and taking a few advancing steps, "if you think I'm just gonna let you run in there – "

But then a terrifying screech split the air, cutting off Bo's speech and ringing in both his ears and Morbex's. The boy cringed and bowed his head and his dream from the previous night tore through his mind: the dark palace walls, the bodiless shrieks sounding from behind him –

The scream, bursting from the forest, died off as a long wail and without pausing to think Morbex sprinted past the still-recovering Bo and into the woods, following the moss-covered, leafy path towards the swinging bridge located at its end. His unyielding footsteps trampled across this wooden expansion and he gave himself no time to gasp when it shifted beneath his weight or to gaze down into the foggy abyss situated beneath it.

Instead he kept running, adrenaline pumping, unable to bear the image of what Talo might look like if the Shadow got its hands on him. As he dashed forward, ducking under branches and leaping over brambles and undergrowth, his body began to grow weary and his throat went dry; but still he kept going, pushing his cursed form beyond its limits and caring not for the consequences.

Soon the height of the grass began to increase, rising so that it tickled his chin and tried to poke him in the eye. Irritably he waved his arms to the sides, brushing the grass out of his way until he parted another clump of it and found himself staring at a fork in the road.

On one path there was a tunnel, dark and ominous, and on the other was a clearing with a distant road burrowing between rows of trees. Morbex paused, pondering his choices, before something in front of the cave caught his attention.

From where he stood it appeared to be nothing more than a stick with paint decorating it but, when Morbex drew closer, he found the stick had a specific shape about it that mimicked the body of a sword. He picked it up, examining it silently before lifting his eyes to the black tunnel in front of him.

This had to be it: the entrance to the woods that Bo was so hardhearted towards.

Morbex could almost sense it: a foreboding feeling that overtook his senses and threatened to cloud his mind with fear. The longer he stood there, gazing into the tunnel, the more the sensation grew – before Morbex's eyes the cavern seemed to grow and loom over him.

But he could not let terror take him; Talo's life was on the line and he had to save him. He was the only one that could after all, for if someone else were to try and rescue Talo from a Shadow, there was a strong chance that both he and the boy would be killed.

But Morbex would be spared. After pondering the image of the Shadow on the mountain, he finally believed that the beasts were working for Malbex. It was the only explanation, otherwise such creatures would not even dream of leaving their territory.

As such the Shadows would not harm Morbex for they had to be aware that, for some reason, Malbex needed him. Morbex himself was not sure as to why his brother needed him alive but, when the man had taken him along on his first journey to the Twilight Realm, he figured that whatever his purpose was in Malbex's plan, it had to be important.

Morbex gripped Talo's sword. If he had to return to Malbex for Talo's sake then so be it. If he had to return to that dark closet where food was scarce then so be it. All Morbex wanted was for Talo to remain unharmed, for the boy did not deserve to suffer in his place.

_None of them do._

Morbex squared his shoulders and, taking a deep breath, rushed headlong into the tunnel.

Darkness suffocated him upon entry and a cold, wet wind kissed his face. A muggy scent plugged his nostrils and he choked, navigating through the shadowy chasm by running his hand along the rocky walls. Rats scurried out of his path as he walked and the dim light of dying torches discerned the silhouettes of sharp corners and splintered wood, as well as the silver lining of spider webs weaved in corners.

The creators of these webs peered at him menacingly with their eight red eyes, their long legs squished into the narrow tunnels that branched off of the main one. More than once Morbex thought he saw their bodies, his heart leaping at their size and his feet stumbling forward with haste.

After what felt like hours of weaving through the cave, pale blue light showed itself at the end of the passage and with its illumination to guide him Morbex hurried down one last sloping hill before emerging in the main woods of the next-door province.

Faint sunlight drifted in through the canopy of enormous trees, their tallest branches scraping against a sky that he could barely see. Twigs and other forsaken foliage littered the grass and roots of every size crawled up the sides of great slabs of rock far to Morbex's sides. The boy then directed his gaze ahead and there he found his vision to be greatly limited by a thick gray fog that hugged close to the ground and wound tightly through the many trees that no doubt covered the forest floor.

Slowly Morbex began his descent into the haze, Talo's sword brandished by his side and his eyes searching for any signs of movement. With caution he eased down a small hill and, with two more steps, was instantly fogbound.

Still he crept forward, waving a hand in front of his face to hopefully swat away some of the vapor that hung in the air and peer ahead. Unfortunately he found that he still could hardly see anything in front of him unless it were a thick tree trunk standing two feet away from his face. He did not even see the twig beneath his foot – he only noticed it when it cracked beneath his weight and snapped loudly.

Talo's eyes shot up, large and apprehensive, as the crack resounded in the forest. His heart beat like a drum and he huddled closer to the tree trunk he was crouched against, its large roots that protruded from the ground acting as walls to guard either of his sides.

His eyes fell to the warm, furry bundle in his arms and he held it closer; Rosa groaned in her sleep and winced. Instantly Talo lowered her so that he could see her face, his young visage darkened with sadness.

He should have never come to the forest, he thought. It was dangerous, just as Bo had said, and he scolded himself for disobeying.

After following Rosa partway into the Faron woods the scream of a Shadow had stopped them both and, turning slightly, the boy and monkey laid eyes on the fearsome creature hovering only feet away.

Petrified with fear, Talo had remained where he stood and had it not been for Rosa leaping in front of him, the Shadow would have swiped its hand across his small body, no doubt killing him. Instead the beast's hand had crashed into Rosa's head, knocking her unconscious, and with renewed strength Talo had grabbed her and ran, all the while the Shadow floating after him with one hand stretched forward.

Once entering the tunnel that led deeper into the woods Talo had lost the monster and vanished into the foggy forest to hopefully hide from it. But now he had nowhere else to turn to and he prayed that the tree he was presently hiding behind would protect him until the Shadow left.

He pressed his back further into the bark of the tree and drew Rosa close to him, his eyes leaping about the fog in the hopes that the snapping twig he had heard had not been caused by the Shadow that craved his life.

The woods were eerily silent, almost as if the timid and harmless animals that lived within them sensed danger and dared not to make a sound. Talo held his breath, his ears ringing and he surveyed the area over and over.

As his eyes repeatedly panned across the white abyss, he suddenly wondered if he would even be able to see the Shadow coming. He shook the thought away forcibly for it terrified him, and continued watching the area, figuring that if he did see the Shadow he would still himself and hope that his immobility would keep the beast from spotting him.

Then somewhere far off, Talo located a black dot the size of a pin. He gulped and blinked and the dot disappeared; blood pounded in his ears and his heart took on the force of an earthquake in his small chest.

Rosa whimpered in his lap. Talo blinked.

And then a long, thin tendril of black string appeared before him, hovering as its edges blended with the white fog until it strangely extended and grew in thickness, bulging in some parts as it took on the form of a lumpy black cloud.

Then gradually, the bumps on either side of the ominous darkness shaped themselves into what looked like human shoulders while a lump at its top rounded into the shape of a skull. Black eye sockets glared down at Talo, paralyzing him, and the dark fog settled about the emerging creature's wiry body, hiding its tight skin and falling to obscure its feet.

A gangly hand steadily broke free of the shady fog that coiled about the being's form, scarred skin and knobby fingers itching for the feel of the boy's neck.

The Shadow's menacing presence crept over Talo, dulling his senses and his racing heart strangled his voice. He could only gulp.

_I'm done for._

But then strange words thundered from the depths of the white abyss and a stick flew at the Shadow from Talo's left.

Spotting the incoming projectile the Shadow turned, swinging its arm out and shattering the wood. Barely a second had passed before a transparent, pale blue orb the size of an Ordonian goat materialized in between the beast and Talo, its spherical frame mystified as it made contact with the forest fog.

Purple and black smoke filled the orb's center, blocking the Shadow from Talo's view, and its mass increased briefly as the entire sphere pulsed, releasing a powerful gale that erupted from its core and sent the Shadow flying back.

The event had happened so quickly that Talo barely had time to react; by the time he had cried out Morbex was standing in front of him, his feet spread apart and his arms wide in a protective stance.

The Shadow, momentarily winded by the spell that Morbex had conjured right where it had been standing, hardly took the time to register what had attacked it. Screaming angrily it lunged forward, lanky fingers outstretched and clawing for the throat of its new opponent.

Morbex buried his soles into the ground and braced himself – but the attack never came.

Recognizing who Morbex was at the last possible second the Shadow had stopped, its hand inches from scraping the boy's neck. Morbex's eyes flashed a bright crimson as sunlight broke through the fog and landed on his face, glancing off of the silver headband that wrapped around his head and better illuminating his features in the haze.

"What are you?" he asked quietly, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the Shadow. Behind him he heard Talo release a small whimper and he widened his stance and flexed his stretched arms before him. "Why are you here?"

The Shadow merely floated in place, its only reply being the husky exhaling of its breath. Morbex's eyes did not flinch or waver away as he scowled at the beast, and he did well to ignore the way his heart pounded against his ribcage.

Talo slid his foot back in the dirt and pushed backward, only to be stopped by the base of the tree trunk nestled behind him. He gulped and his eyes darted to the limp form of his monkey companion that lay across his lap, and then moved to glue themselves upon the pair before him once more.

In the cloud of fog that slouched upon the forest floor, the forms of both Morbex and the monster seemed faded and distant. But Talo could still see them well enough to know that the two had not moved: Morbex still stood before him, legs spread out and arms wide, and the Shadow still had its bony hand up, inches from grazing against the boy's exposed neck. Talo wondered if the foreigner was scared.

Then a sound floated to the Ordonian's ears, soft and hissing and sending chills up his spine. It took him a moment to figure out that the breathing noise was snaking out of the lower hole in the Shadow's face, which had by now curled into what looked like a toothless grin.

He gaped – and the Shadow disappeared.

Morbex did not ease his posture until he was sure that the Shadow was gone. When he had, he turned and looked down to Talo who stared up at him, mouth agape and both frightened and amazed that the foreign boy had stood against the terrible creature without even a hint of fear. "Are you all right?"

Talo only blinked stupidly and then gave a short nod.

"Good…" Morbex suddenly fell to one knee, his eyelids growing heavy and his body fatigued beyond compare. Though he had only performed a simple spell the act had greatly weakened him, adding to the exhaustion he already had from rushing to find Talo's location.

Mentally he cursed his pathetic form but knew that what he had done had been for the best. At least now Talo was safe.

He bowed his head and caught sight of one of the shattered remains of the wooden item he had hurled at the Shadow.

"O-oh…" He picked the small twig up and held it for Talo to see: part of a painted design could be seen lining its edge. "Your sword…" Talo took the bit of wood from the outlander and studied it closely. "I…threw it…at the Shadow…to distract it," he informed him through gasps. "It looks like…it broke it…"

Talo shook his head. "No, it's okay." He tossed the wood on to the floor. "I can make a new one. But you, Morbex…" Morbex craned his neck to look at him, his vision growing foggy – or perhaps it was the forest vapor. "Thanks."

Morbex gave a fleeting smile and dropped his head again. "You're…" His eyes slid to the side, for a pair of approaching figures had been spotted in his peripheral vision. As the silhouettes drew closer, the fog parted just enough for him to identify the two as Bo and Fado. "You're welcome…" Then his world blackened and his body toppled to the ground.

Just before his mind darkened, he wondered why the Shadow had done nothing to him and he again found himself pondering the idea that the beast was nothing more than a scout.

The voices of Bo and Fado were muffled in his ears as they came nearer and as Talo responded to their inquiries Morbex slipped into a much-desired rest.

_Malbex… What are you planning?_


	55. Chapter 54

**Chapter Fifty-Four**

The door of the royal bunker slammed shut in Zelda's wake, creating a resounding thud that bounced off of the room's circular walls.

Her eyes, shadowed with exhaustion from the length of her travels thus far, scanned the area slowly, searching for the bed. To gain a better view of the royal hideaway, she gripped the reins of the horse she had taken from the castle stables and took a few more advancing steps into the room.

Only the night before had she departed the castle to start her journey in search of Link, riding her personal horse south towards Ordona Province until sunlight broke over the hills. Shortly she rested by a small creek where she and her ride drank and rested, and then she reentered the fields, continuing further south through Lanayru Province until night returned. Upon discovering that her bunker was nearby by the time night had fallen, the young noble had figured that taking refuge in it would be safer than resting in the open grasslands.

Buried beneath a mountain that stood only a few miles away from Lake Hylia, the royal bunker was made of concrete walls that separated it from the thick, moist dirt settled beneath the topsoil. Two tunnels had been carved out of it, linking the main room of the bunker to the weaponry and a small study: open doorways on either side of the room marked the entrances to these passages.

Standing in the spot in between these doorways were two torches, evenly spaced so as to provide room for the large portrait of one of the previous queens of Hyrule. Along the bottom of the gold frame was the woman's name, carved into a small plank of wood: _Queen Zelda I._

She was one of the country's best rulers, Zelda recalled as she stared at the painting of the blond-haired woman. She had also been the one responsible for sealing away the evil warlock, Ganondorf, during the Imprisoning War so many years ago.

Zelda gazed at her ancestor, noting how her straight posture and shoulders granted her an air of undeniable authority. But still the woman appeared compassionate, which could be seen in the soft, kind expression settled across her long and smooth face. She looked young in the image as well, Zelda realized, and she guessed that she could not have been a day over Zelda's age when she had sat down to have herself painted.

The princess stepped closer towards the portrait until it loomed over her, forcing her to crane her neck in order to see the queen's face. With the torchlight snapping and sending shadows dancing across her visage Zelda looked up to the ruler, her blue eyes filled with both admiration and self-belittlement.

Beneath the reign of Queen Zelda I, Hyrule had lived in an age of peace and prosperity. Relations with neighboring countries were kept stable and the people were free to live without fear.

At this thought Zelda dropped her eyes, no longer feeling worthy to look upon her glorious ancestor. Unlike her, Zelda had not kept peace; unlike her, Zelda had not kept relations with neighboring countries stable.

The leaders of some of the surrounding countries were dead and their relations with Hyrule were beginning to tremble. Though Zelda had her suspicions of the Demonics, she had no evidence to support her accusations and so some countries, such as Albaan, were beginning to blame one another or even Hyrule for their losses. War almost seemed imminent, and on top of it all Holes were tearing the world apart.

And now even more recently, Zelda's own home had been taken from her: soldiers had betrayed her and had even been willing to allow a foreigner to take their princess to a man who wished to tear her soul in two. Zelda always clenched her teeth at the thought of this, and at times could not stop herself from wondering what would have become of her had she not chosen to leave the capital.

But then Zelda suddenly wondered: could all of these things really be her fault? They all seemed like things that no one was capable of controlling.

_Just a series of unfortunate events._

But above this small, hopeful thought there was something within her that felt she truly was the one to blame. All of it was her fault, it told her; they were not coincidences. It was all happening because she was here.

Because she was so easy to control.

Because she was so _weak._

_ "Weak princess."_

The words of Fanadi rang clear in Zelda's mind, bringing with it the woman's pudgy, smiling face.

A brief and frustrated cry broke out of Zelda's throat and she slammed her hand against the painting.

Why was it that she could not do it? Why was it that every time peace seemed so close, something would snatch it away from her?

_Why can I not…_

Her forehead bumped into the painting and she slumped to the ground, her hand sliding against the wall. Why could she not command the same power that her ancestors had? Why could she not have a peaceful, prospering kingdom?

But then again, was it even as easy as it seemed?

Perhaps she was just being naïve; perhaps her ancestors, too, had to deal with mountains of issues in order to maintain the peaceful world that they envisioned. Perhaps Zelda was merely hoping that ruling a country was as easy as her predecessors made it out to be. Yes, maybe that was what it was.

_Then maybe I can…_

Change?

Zelda raised her chin and locked eyes with her predecessor once again.

Yes. Perhaps she could just change her thinking, realizing that ruling a country was far from easy.

That being a leader was far from easy.

"Perhaps then…" Zelda stood to her feet and took a few steps back so as to see the queen's portrait entirely and she closed her right hand into a fist and placed it over her heart. "Perhaps then, you may look down upon your descendant with pride and know that your country is in safe hands." Then the princess bent at the waist and bowed.

_I will be strong._

* * *

When Zelda sat up in the bed later on, she found that she had no way of knowing whether or not it was morning or if night had yet to depart. But even with this knowledge kept from her, she felt rested enough: her head was clearer and her eyelids were no longer heavy, permitting her senses to stand in alert. With her mind keen like this, she believed she had nothing to worry about if she were to leave the bunker then and find that it was still nighttime.

Assured by this, the Hylian princess climbed out of the small cot and took a few steps forward to search for her mirror, only to quickly remind herself that she was in an underground dugout, not the grand castle.

Perhaps she was not as alert as she thought.

Scratching the back of her head, the young ruler instead made her way towards her horse's saddle, which she had leaned against the wall by the sleeping animal. As she approached it in order to retrieve some food for breakfast her mount awakened, craning his neck to watch her with his dark, beady eyes.

Seeing this, Zelda reached into a bag attached to the saddle and curled her fingers around a few carrots, then placed them before her steed. When he had finished the snack, she reached into the pouch and pulled out a few more of the orange vegetables for him. Once they were in front of the hungry creature, she replaced her hand in the bag and grabbed a small wrapped bundle for herself.

Zelda then made her way over to the round conference table situated in the center of the bunker and sat in one of its chairs. After placing the bundle she carried on the table face she unwrapped it, revealing a red apple and a piece of bread.

Knowing that class was not necessary at this time, she grabbed the apple with her hand and took a large bite out of it. Crunching loudly, her eyes glazed over the boring setup of the bunker, briefly resting upon a map of the continent that hung on the wall opposite her before dropping to a stray crate that was overflowing with what looked like documents and journal entries.

Taking another bite out of her fruit, Zelda got up from the table and approached the crate, then curiously flicked her fingers through the many papers it contained. Quickly she read the first line of each piece of parchment, her interest steadily fading, until the first few sentences of a particular record caught her attention. She removed it from its place amongst the other wordy reports and made her way back to the table, laying it across the wooden surface and reading it silently.

After scanning through the next few lines of the paper, Zelda quickly discovered that the sheet was describing a particular spell. She leaned over the table and began to read the paper closely, pointing to certain words that she recognized as ancient Hylian and briefly translating them in her mind.

"'_Illusion'_," she whispered aloud, tracing her finger over the curvy lettering of one of the words. Her fingertip descended to the next line. "'_Deceptive'…_" She frowned. "A deceptive illusion?"

"It is an ancient spell that cannot be performed by oneself."

Zelda nearly leaped out of her skin. Jumping and turning to see who had spoken, she slammed her knee into a leg of the table and leaned over the table, her knee now throbbing painfully. Even so she forced her eyes to hide any sort of pain that she now felt and scanned the bunker. "Who's there?"

A shadow moved in a far corner of the room, drawing her attention. Her narrowed eyes leaped to the location and her right hand flew up, sending a beam of light shooting towards the spot. But when the eruption of illumination collided against one of the concrete walls, it revealed nothing but the dirt floor and a black mark now burned against the wall's surface.

Zelda gripped the edge of the table and hoisted herself to her feet, keeping her weight off of her injured leg. Silently she cursed her carelessness and glared at every spot of the dugout, her patience wearing thin.

"Who's there?" she demanded again, warmth prickling at her fingertips. Her horse, also sensing some unknown presence, rose to his feet and snorted, tossing his mane and stomping at the ground. Zelda clenched her teeth, her heart pounding.

Had someone broken into the bunker while she had been sleeping? No that could not be it: an iron door locked the entrance to the bunker. Even if something had managed to open it, the sound of the steel barrier moving as it was opened was something that no one would be able to sleep through. But if someone had not crept inside while she was unawares, who was addressing her?

Zelda raised her hands, light pulsing around them.

Could it be a Demonic? The beasts were capable of appearing wherever they willed, after all. Perhaps it had seen her enter the bunker and slipped in after her, lurking in the shadows until it perceived the right time to strike.

But if it was a Demonic then why had it let Zelda live while she was sleeping? Why not attack then?

"Who's there?" the princess roared again, her eyes darting to and fro. Her heartbeat drowned out the sound of the snapping torches that stood throughout the room, pumping blood straight through her eardrums. "Show yourself – !"

There was a glimmer of movement in her peripheral vision, it having been so close that Zelda hobbled a few steps back before fully facing whatever had decided to sneak up on her. Her arms locked and the light glowing around her hands intensified; her eyes thinned and her lips curled back.

The one who had shifted in the shadows stepped forward then, blond hair draping down to the middle of her back and framing her long, smooth face. Pointy ears poked out from beneath her long locks, naming her race, and hanging from these ears were elegant but small earrings that did well to accent her beauty. A long, dark blue cape swept across the ground as the woman stepped forward, its hem decorated with white fur and the graceful, dark dress that she wore slid over the ground with it.

Her boots, hidden beneath her layered garment, barely made a sound as they stepped over the soil, yet with each forward motion Zelda took a step back, her mouth hanging open and her eyes large.

Hearing the arrival of new company Zelda's horse turned, snorting and tossing his head. Then, much unlike his character, he trotted towards the woman and nuzzled her face with his snout in a friendly manner. Zelda blinked at this strange act, for she had never known her horse to be so warm towards people it did not know.

"Y-you…" She looked between her animal and the woman, who was now petting the great creature's face. "Why is he…who are you?"

The woman redirected her gaze towards Zelda, her face filled with such love and warmth that it nearly sent the princess crumbling to her knees. But above her sudden weakness, the princess instantly recognized the expression of the woman and her gaze darted towards the painting.

Then her eyes grew even larger with understanding. "You're…!"

The woman raised her chin, smiling kindly. "Yes, I am she: Queen Zelda I."

Zelda, her mouth still hanging stupidly, did not utter a response nor make any kind of movement.

The queen regarded her beneath a silent, scrutinizing gaze before speaking once more. "Despite your evident surprise, you are troubled."

Zelda seemed to choke on a gasp, as if she had not been breathing the entire time. "Huh?"

"The Triforce is a very peculiar thing," the queen said softly, turning her head to look down at her right hand. She lifted it to the side of her face with the palm facing her, and then cast her eyes back to Zelda. "It is both powerful and intriguing." A triangular shaped mark began to glow on the back of her hand; Zelda's own hand grew warm and she dropped her eyes to see that her mark, too, was shining brightly. "And it is capable of forming bonds and connections that can never be broken: bonds between its other two pieces, bonds between itself and its owner, and even bonds with the past."

"Past," Zelda repeated quietly, her mind reeling. "Then…"

"The Triforce retains the being of its deceased owners within itself, so that its next wielder can obtain the knowledge of her ancestors and learn from them," the queen continued. "It opens your mind, my daughter, to communicating with those queens. Even to communicating with the Sages, and they with you."

"They with me…" Immediately Zelda's mind backtracked to the time she had seen Telma and her allies depart Hyrule via the Gerudo Mesa. Had that been a time that the Sages had communicated with her?

"Yes, it was." Zelda's mind refocused upon reality, clouded with confusion before she understood what the ruler meant.

If it were true that the Triforce of Wisdom, which was a part of her, retained within it the queen that now stood before her, then that meant that the queen was also a part of her and could most likely read her thoughts.

"You are wise to think that," the queen praised, smiling softly. "Such is the reason that Wisdom picked you. And, as a part of you, your horse cannot seem to tell if there is any difference between us." The queen rubbed the snout of the steed again. "And, as a part of you, I can sense that you are greatly distressed by something." Zelda's eyebrows crinkled and she pressed her lips together, her eyes falling away from the sympathetic expression that had nestled itself across the queen's face. "You feel as though you cannot live up to the stature of your predecessors' reputation. You feel as though you are a failure compared to them, and so you are disheartened."

"Yes," Zelda admitted, clenching a fist. "But I have decided to try and live up to them, regardless of the troubles that are presently befalling the country." A subtle sense of pride seemed to take over the queen's face as she looked at her descendant, her blue eyes sparkling. "But I cannot do it alone – my castle has been seized and the strong relations that once held the world together seem to be falling apart. I am in need of great aid."

Zelda had not perceived the tone of defeat that filled her voice until she had paused and she shook it away, mustering up her strength. "I am trying to find Link, the wielder of Courage, for I believe that he can offer some kind of help in the retaking of my kingdom."

The queen nodded. "Yes, I am aware of your plan. For I thought of it with you, did I not?" Seeing that Zelda was speechless, she went on. "I, too, was in need of the strength of Courage's wielder in my time. But due to the circumstances, I could not wait for him in my true form. Instead, I had to use the spell that is described on this parchment." At this the woman picked up the sheet of paper that Zelda had left unattended on the table. "My caretaker used this on me in order to keep me safe while I waited to find Courage's owner. It was a disguise, one that kept my true identity a secret from Ganondorf, the man who desired my life."

Queen Zelda returned the parchment to the table. "It protected me and made my quest easier."

"Easier?" Zelda repeated, frowning quizzically. "Just a disguise?"

"Alexandria Ruheart," the queen suddenly said and a flash of discomfort shot through Zelda's systems upon recalling the last time she had seen the silver-haired woman. "She, too, is capable of disguising herself, as is her accomplice, Tentra. Is that not so?"

"Y-yes," Zelda confirmed, nodding.

"And their disguises helped them with their missions, did they not?"

"Yes."

"In the same way, this disguise will help you. However," the queen's once kind face was now very grave, "in order to use it, you can no longer be Zelda."

"No longer…?" Zelda echoed with confusion, her brow furrowing, and she took a few more retreating steps as the queen began to approach her. "What do you – "

"Sealing away your consciousness, the very mind of Princess Zelda VII, will make the disguise that much more believable," the queen explained, stopping just out of Zelda's arm length. "For you are trying to evade any possible pursuers, are you not?

"But do not worry, you will not lose yourself to this disguise," she went on, sensing her descendant's anxiety. "You will still be able to control your own actions and you will be able to return to your true self whenever you wish. But you will be different: your nature, your personality. Even your temperament."

"I see…" Zelda paused in consideration, debating whether or not she should take or decline the offer. After a moment of thought she made a decision and, locking eyes with the queen, she nodded. "I accept your aid," she said firmly. "I will take on this appearance in order to hide right beneath my enemy's nose as I search for Link."

The queen tipped her chin in acknowledgment of the princess' consent and stepped forward, extending her hand until her forefinger was touching the center of Zelda's forehead. Warmth seeped from her fingertip and across the princess' face, caressing her cheeks and sliding down her body until it reached the soles of her feet. With the growing sensation, Zelda's vision furred and lost focus and her limbs grew numb. "Your name will no longer be Zelda," the queen stated as darkness shadowed the princess' mind.

Zelda's legs gave beneath her and she felt herself falling, slipping away from reality – slipping away from existence.

_It is Sheik._


	56. Chapter 55

**Chapter Fifty-Five**

He was hungry when he woke up. In fact, he was starving.

With a grunt he rolled out of bed, his red irises fogged with drowsiness and blonde bangs tickling his tan cheeks. Rubbing his turban-covered head, his eyes shifted to observe the room and rested on the table situated in the dugout's center. For a moment he stared at its blank surface.

_Just a dream._

Sheik pushed himself off the cot and approached his horse's saddle, where he reached into the bag attached to it in order to retrieve some food for both he and his mount. After the two had finished their morning meal, Sheik began to move back and forth between the rooms of the bunker, gathering any sorts of materials and weapons he believed would be necessary in the next leg of his search for Link.

In the weaponry he retrieved a knife, which he chose to equip to the back of his belt, as well as a map of the country from the study. Though he was very familiar with Hyrule's landscape, he did not wish to risk getting lost.

With these new items Sheik made his way back towards his horse and tapped the creature's side with his foot, instructing him to rise to his feet. Without a sound the horse obliged, kneeing up from the ground with his strong, four legs. Once he was standing Sheik took hold of the creature's reins and approached the bunker's iron exit.

As he drew near, the metal door rumbled loudly as it ascended in its rocky frame, causing small pebbles of debris to rain into the doorway. Once it had risen as high as it possibly could Sheik stepped through the entranceway, tugging his horse with him. When the last of the equine's tail had flicked through the opening the door slid back into place, revealing upon its front the insignia of the royal family.

Without pausing to look back Sheik followed the passage outside of the bunker, marching over mounds of unleveled dirt and ducking beneath the beams that kept the tunnel from caving.

Though it was reasonably dark and a bit difficult to maneuver, Sheik saw no reason to take out his lamp, for he recalled that the passage tunneled forth in a straight, upward slope. He also knew the cavern corridor to be short and so endured the darkness until a faint ray of light managed to reach him from the passage's end. Quietly Sheik followed the light, gradually squinting as it grew in strength until he emerged in the small forest that surrounded the bunker's hiding place.

After doing a quick scan of the wooded, sunlit area to ensure that there was no monster hiding nearby, Sheik dropped the reins of his horse and climbed into its saddle. Once adjusted in its seat, he jabbed the stirrups into the beast's sides and with a snort the animal took off, charging along a narrow trail that wound around and descended by the mountain's east side.

The horseman bounced lightly in his seat as his mount galloped down the hill, crouching low to the beast's neck to avoid low branches or letting his eyes slide to the left or right whenever he thought he spotted movement. Though, whenever he did think he saw something threatening lurking nearby, he discovered that it was only a harmless forest critter or a weak monster that deserved no attention.

Even so, Sheik made sure to keep his wits about him as he headed for the forest's edge, and upon reaching it he stopped his horse, pondering which road he should take in order to continue on towards Ordona Province.

As he stood there debating, the sound of an approaching wagon caught his attention and he looked to his left, spotting the horse-drawn wagon bumping down a trail that ran across the edge of the forest. As it drew near, Sheik identified a man sitting in its front seat, his mustached face drawn with a heavy, thick-browed frown. From the inside of the wagon that he drove the voice of a child drifted out, her syllables interrupted by occasional hiccups as she wailed loudly.

"I wanna go back to Castle Town!" she cried, her voice increasing in volume as her ride drew closer to Sheik. "Billy…Billy can't be gone! We have to go back, we have to go back and find him…!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't go back, sweetie," consoled the smooth voice of her mother. The wagon was rather close to Sheik now and he pulled on his reins, inducing his horse to reverse and step out of their path. "The city is far too dangerous right now. You saw it." She paused, her eyebrows pursing. "Billy might not even…" But she was caught off as a fresh sob wracked through her child's small frame.

"'Too dangerous'?" Sheik echoed aloud, drawing the attention of both the woman and the man in the wagon's front. He glanced back at Sheik and, seeing that the horseman was looking between he and his wife riding in the back, he stopped the cart. "Is there something wrong with the capital?"

"There sure is." The driver turned in his seat to look at the hooded stranger. "It's a terrible place right now."

Sheik frowned. "Why?"

"I suppose it's because it's only just happened, so news hasn't spread yet," the woman started with her arms wrapped around her daughter, whose face was now buried in the mother's side. "But two nights ago there was a terrible uprising and soldiers ran through the city, killing each other and many people."

Sheik's crimson eyes only slightly widened and he set his jaw. Though aware that the officers of the country had been acting strangely, he had hoped that the generals would be able to control any soldiers that appeared disloyal. Why had they failed?

"Only two nights ago?" he inquired.

"Yes." The woman nodded. "We were only a few of the survivors that managed to escape the city. Right now, we're headed into the countryside to stay with my husband's family in Abler."

Sheik nodded and then turned his head to stare up at the tallest conical spire of Hyrule Castle, which could be seen peeking over the hills in the distance. "I see."

"If you've got any kind of sense, you won't head up there," the husband stated, his large brown eyes following Sheik's gaze. "Who knows what's going on up there now."

Sheik's eyes fell back to him. "Is there anything else about this that you can tell me?"

"Other than the fact that a quarter of the city's population are either dead or wounded and that the soldiers have gone completely insane?" The father shrugged. "Not much else to tell."

"There was a guy with the soldiers that was killing people, too." Sheik looked through the wagon's window and saw that the daughter's red face was now turned up towards him. She looked barely over ten years old. "I didn't get a good look at him…because we were running. But I remember he was wearing green clothes, and he had a green hood. And his eyes…" The girl's red, puffy eyes seemed to stare straight through Sheik as she pictured the man's face in her mind. They had been so full of malice, so fierce and frightening… "They were blue." Her chin began to wobble. "And then…I think he…I think he got…" Her voice muted then and tears spilled down her cheeks. As she masked her face in her mother's side again, Sheik thought he heard the muffled mumble of the name, "Billy".

"I'm sorry to hear of your loss," he said, his voice full of genuine sympathy.

"That man'll get what's coming to him," the father grunted from his front seat and turned to face the road again. "Billy…was a good kid." He slapped the reins against the pair of horses pulling the wagon, and as the vehicle pulled away the man called over his shoulder, "You should try to get somewhere safe, instead of heading up to that place."

As the cart's window rolled out of Sheik's view the woman within nodded to him, then turned to look down at her sniveling daughter once again.

When they had traveled further down the road Sheik returned his eyes to the spire in the distance, his mind running through the information that he had just been given. He doubted that the family had lied to him, and with this belief came disappointment in the generals of Hyrule. How could they have let such a thing happen when he had clearly instructed them to keep the castle under control? Had the suspicious soldiers been too difficult for them to handle?

_No, there has to be some other reason._

Sheik's blonde eyebrows furrowed. The soldiers that had once sworn loyalty to Hyrule could not have suddenly decided to slaughter the soldiers that still remained loyal on their own. There had to be someone else whispering orders behind them, encouraging them to perform vile acts and threatening them if they did not comply. For if they were not threatened, why else would the soldiers agree to take part in something as terrible as a homicide?

Though Sheik found threats to be a terrible excuse for stealing the lives of people, it was plausible.

But who was the one doing it? Who was the one giving the orders?

Sheik pondered this for a brief second before recalling the girl's description of one of the killers: he had been wearing green clothing and a green hood, and his eyes had been blue.

_Link._

But why would Link kill people? Sheik recalled the night he had seen the Hyrulean in south Castle Town's deserted bar. Though that had been months ago, it was still impossible for Link to have suddenly become a mass-murderer between that time and now. But if not Link, then who?

This, too, hovered about Sheik's thoughts for a short while before a name finally answered the inquiry: Tentra.

Sheik's memory dragged him back to the time he had seen Link in the castle with Alexandria, then stepped forward to remind him of when he had seen the supposed Ordonian transform into Tentra before the eyes of the generals. Yes, it had to be Tentra: he had impersonated Link and tried to make Zelda believe that the Hylian had betrayed her.

Now, he was trying to make the entire country believe that the green-clad man that had once done so much for Hyrule only a year ago was a murderer.

Sheik's hands tightened around his reins and his eyes narrowed, anger building within him. He should find Tentra and make him pay for the terrible deed he had done. He should find him and make him pay for the lies he was trying to force upon all of Hyrule.

But would he be able to do it alone?

Sheik had already decided to search for the real Link and ask for his aid in retaking the kingdom. As such, would it truly be wise to run into the capital without any kind of aid, and waste his travels thus far?

Sheik dropped his eyes from the castle spire and turned his face to the plains on his right, to the direction of Ordona Province. He stared at the fields in this area, his mind wavering between his two choices, and then he kicked his steed's sides, angling him to follow the road in the direction he had chosen.

The castle tower sank beneath the hill as Sheik rode towards it, hiding its conical shape behind the mountainous terrain. His scarlet eyes narrowed, Sheik kicked his ride again, urging him to gallop faster. With Link by his side or not he needed to return to the capital, for his crumbling country was now in need of a ruler.

He could not just journey on in the hopes that he would run into Link in his home province – he was not even sure if the shepherd was there in any case, and Sheik was not interested in the idea of riding all over the country in search of him if he wasn't. Right now, the issue in the capital was more important.

Finding the real Link would simply have to wait.

* * *

The sun was getting ready to set by the time Sheik arrived back at the capital. Though he had traveled at his quickest pace he could not defy the miles of terrain that stood between the bunker and the Hyrulean capital, and as such had taken two days to return to the grand city.

Though, "grand" was not the word Sheik would use to describe the place at that time. Even from where he was, riding his trotting horse towards the stairs that led up to the city's western drawbridge, he could perceive that something was not right within the city. A foreboding aura seemed to resonate off of it, sending chills up and down his spine and leaving him with a minute sense of paranoia.

Forcing himself to ignore this rather eerie feeling Sheik ordered his horse to run quicker, granting him the momentum he needed to leap over the stoned staircase and jump onto the drawbridge. The horse steadied to a slower pace as it crossed this wooden expansion, and when it had arrived on the opposing end Sheik pulled his hood further over his face, keeping his visage a mystery to the soldiers patrolling the parapets of the wall that guarded the city's entire perimeter.

He did not remove the covering when he passed through the arched doorway beneath the wall, nor did he try to reveal his face when he emerged in the city. Instead his blood-colored eyes observed the western roads from beneath the shadows of his cloak, noticing how, as always, the roads were beginning to empty as night loomed ever closer.

Now at a leisurely walk, Sheik's horse strolled down the streets of west Castle Town, its owner intending to guide it to the gates of Hyrule Castle. There, if denied entry to the great manor, he would simply reveal his true identity and retake authority on his own.

It was going to be much harder to follow through with, he reminded himself when he realized how easy the task sounded, and he mentally steeled himself for the hardships he would soon have to endure in order to meet his goal.

The citizens that walked or rushed past Sheik barely glanced up at him as he traveled along, instead stumbling around his large horse in their haste or circling around him, their eyes cast to the cobblestone ground. Though Sheik could not see their faces he could tell that they were in pain, scarred by the event that had happened, now, four nights ago. His heart went out to all of them behind his stoic expression, and he vowed to regain control over his officers for their sake as well as his.

As the horseman came upon the street that connected to the city square, voices chiming together in a harmony of mourning floated to his ears, and out of the corner of his eye he spotted a line of people emerging from one of the side roads.

As they stepped into the radiant light of the sunset that burned across the street, it could be seen that every last one of them was garbed in black clothing, and that the person in front was ringing a miniature silver bell in time to the tune his group sang.

The procession made to pass in front of him and respectfully Sheik stopped his horse, watching silently as they marched by. Amongst the line of mourners Sheik could see the tear-stained faces of some of the people, their hearts burdened by a heavy melancholy that he doubted would fade even when their mourning was complete. With a solemn expression he listened to the lyrics of their song and quickly identified it as a funeral hymn.

It was greatly unfortunate, Sheik believed, his eyes fastened on the group as they vanished into a narrow road across from the one they had stepped out of. For their sake as well, he would be sure to avenge the deaths of the loved ones they had lost.

"Behold! Before you stands the criminal: Link, the Ordonian! Look upon this filth, this terrible monster that dared to destroy our beloved city!"

The singing of the mourners had faded, allowing Sheik to overhear the announcement bellowed from the heart of the city square. After the declaration had been made there came the sound of people shouting, cursing and yelling with rage – here and there Sheik caught an obscenity thrown into the midst.

Without hesitation he jabbed his horse's sides with the stirrups and galloped into the plaza, where he spotted a thick mass of people gathered around a scaffold built in front of the fountain.

Many of the people were shaking their fists and hollering with rage or jeering and threatening the pointy-eared man that stood on the platform in front of them. Sheik looked in the direction that they were all facing and had to do a double take when he saw the man.

Link's face was battered and bruised and crusted blood was smeared across one of his cheeks, hiding the cut that was its source. His light brown hair was disheveled and a typical prison shirt, complete with a pair of tattered pants and flat-footed shoes, had replaced the green tunic and boots that he normally wore.

The shackled Hyrulean's azure eyes stared down at the crowd before him silently and, though most would think that the man looked completely defeated, Sheik could still see the life that burned in the shepherd's clear eyes.

But even as he looked at him Sheik wondered which Link it was that was standing on the scaffold. While he tried to find any facial distinctions between the impersonating Link and the real one, a warm feeling grew in his right hand. Sheik quickly withdrew this hand into his cloak before looking at it discreetly, and spotted the golden mark of the Triforce beaming up at him.

Upon the scaffold a similar sensation appeared on Link's left hand, though he could not look to see the cause due to his hands being bound in shackles behind his back.

"This man dared to return to the capital after he massacred us, strolling about the city as if he were innocent!" Sheik's eyes were drawn to the man that was speaking and he recognized him as one of the captains of the guard. "But now he is here, standing before you as the criminal that he is!" The crowd booed and shouted; by the shop that he was near, Sheik clenched his teeth and his body tightened.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" the captain demanded and he strode over to stand near Link, his armor gleaming in the fiery light of the sunset.

"I already told you," Link said quietly, glaring at the officer through his side vision, "I didn't do it." The captain smirked.

"He denies it!" he roared, rounding on the audience. "We all saw him, and yet he still denies the truth! Change your mind and accept what you have done, traitor. Even Princess Zelda believes you to be a criminal!" The soldier gestured to the palace carriage that was stationed behind the scaffold and a soldier positioned beside it opened its door.

A woman stepped out of the cart once the door was ajar and when she stepped into the open Sheik started, startling his horse. With growing horror he watched as Princess Zelda exited the horse carriage and with long, graceful strides approached the platform.

Link turned to see if he had been correct in hearing the title of the woman, his eyes bulging. Without warning he turned and tried to take a step towards her. "Princess –"

But the captain seized him by the arms, holding him back as the Hylian princess ascended the small staircase in the back of the scaffold and stepped upon the wooden platform. Her expression wearing a plaintive, emotionless stare, she stepped towards Link and, as she drew nearer, the captain shoved him to his knees and gripped the back of his head, then pushed his face to the floor.

Struggling against the officer's powerful hold, Link forced his head up when Zelda stopped before him and his eyes quickly found hers. "Princess Zelda, I –"

"I am greatly disappointed in you," the ruler interrupted, rendering Link speechless. "I trusted you, once. And this is how you repay me?" Link writhed beneath the captain's clutches once more, but could not do much with his hands bound behind his back. "I never thought it would be you, Link. That you would be the one to kill my people without warning. I shall not ask why, for I doubt that you will explain yourself." Zelda's eyes narrowed. "But I will have you punished for what you have done."

Link's mouth fell open, but before he could protest the princess had turned to face the crowd.

"Let it be heard now, that I am issuing an execution," she announced, and held her hand out to Link, "for this man." Immediately roars of approval rippled through the mass of people in front of her and fists were pumped into the air. "As well as for the allies that he had been found with. In three days' time," the woman lowered her hand and looked over the crowd seriously, "he will be hanged, in the fountain area south of the city."

The people silenced Link's objections as they screamed, shouted and rooted their approval. His voice, calling for the princess, went unheard as the crowd roared, the vengeance that had settled in their hearts dissolving to be replaced with gratitude and satisfaction as Link was pulled away, towards a small prison wagon that was waiting a few feet away from Zelda's elegant one.

The soldiers tossed the Hylian into the wooden vehicle and then the officer driving it slapped the reins against the horses, steering them back towards the ramp that led up to the castle. Half of the soldiers that were gathered at the event broke ranks to follow the cart, while the remaining half waited for the princess to climb into her ride.

Sheik's eyes were fastened on the imposter's face as she climbed into the wagon, and they widened when she suddenly looked back, her once blue eyes flashing a brief red as they met the sunset's blazing light.

Again the horseman started in his seat and his horse whinnied and shook his mane; on the other end of the square Zelda vanished into her carriage, and then the soldier steering it slapped the horses with a whip and directed them to travel towards the castle gates.

Even as they disappeared around the archway that stood before the ramp leading to the castle entrance Sheik stared after them, astonishment and righteous anger battling within him for dominance.

That had been her: Alexandria.

So she had decided to impersonate Zelda again?

_When will she learn?_

Sheik pulled his hood down over his face as the crowd in the square dispersed and he maneuvered his way through the plaza until he had reached the eastern streets, where he planned to find an inn.

Though Link had been before him only moments ago, he had chosen not to step forth and rescue him because he had heard that Link had entered the city with allies. More than likely they, too, were locked in the dungeons, waiting for nothing but the day they would be killed before the public. As such they, like Link, were innocent, and so Sheik hoped to rescue all of them simultaneously.

But when would be a good time to rescue them, Sheik suddenly wondered. The day of their execution, which had been scheduled for three days later, would not be a good idea, he reckoned, for he was doubtful that he would have success at such a time.

He needed to get Link and his company out of the dungeons before then and get them out of the castle, then they could sneak out through the waterways and leave the capital. Yes, that would be a better plan.

Sheik turned his horse into a small street that branched off of the main eastern road and followed it halfway, then stopped in front of one of the city's many inns. But rather than enter the building and request a room, Sheik instead journeyed to its side where he came upon the hostel's stable.

Dismounting his ride he approached the stable's front gate and called for the one running it. Within seconds a stable boy had appeared, a boyish dark blue hat donned on his head and a one-strap pair of overalls worn over his white shirt.

"Take this horse," Sheik instructed him quietly, passing the boy the reins over the fence.

"Yes, sir," the boy nodded, grabbing the ropes. "How long are you staying?"

"I'm not." Sheik made to turn while grabbing the edges of his hood. "Keep it, if you want."

"W-what?" The boy's green eyes widened and his jaw fell. "But…but this is a really fine horse, sir. You couldn't really mean to just leave it – "

"No, I mean to." Sheik refaced the lumpy cobblestone street. "Consider it payment for all the hard work that I'm sure you do here."

The boy looked from the horse to Sheik and back, his mind working to form a coherent sentence over the sudden gracious act. Finally finding his voice, he gave a slight bow. "Then…thank you. Thank you very much, sir."

Sheik nodded. "Good boy."

Then he turned, marching back down the small street in the direction of the main road. He was glad that he had not chosen to travel to Ordona Province now. If he had, Link most likely would have been killed right behind his back and his entire journey would have been wasted.

But now, he had the chance to find Link and take him to safety. And Sheik would not waste this opportunity.


	57. Chapter 56

**Chapter Fifty-Six**

They were never open.

These tall and wide arched doors were never ajar, townspeople said. At least, they had not been for a while.

The guard yawned widely, mentally cursing the law that the rumors spoke of. They were true, of course: ever since the false Link had led the soldiers' rebellion and the princess had disappeared, the castle doors had been locked tight and heavily guarded. No one was allowed inside – not even deliverymen.

The soldier yawned again and glanced at the rigid guard standing on the opposite side of the gates, wondering if he was bored as well. For, ever since the new rule had been passed, guarding duty seemed even duller. And when it was nighttime, as it was now, the task seemed even more difficult to carry out.

But even so, the soldier could never fall asleep. Thanks to the crackling torch positioned in the wall beside him, he was jarred whenever his head nodded or his eyelids started to droop. As though to further reiterate how important it was for him to remain awake its bright light burned fiercely, fending off the nighttime shadows and making it impossible for him to close his eyes.

As such the guard settled for staring drearily at the moonlit walkway ahead, watching it keenly as though expecting, or perhaps hoping, that something would emerge and grant him some kind of entertainment. But there was no sign of movement.

Muttering under his breath, the guard straightened his posture and adjusted the hold on his lance, casting his hazel eyes to the crescent moon and pleading for his shift to end.

Even as he made this wish, the faint sound of footsteps patting against the stone walkway drew his attention, and he dropped his eyes to it once more. For a moment the sound of the crackling firelight overpowered the advancing feet, leading him to consider dismissing their existence, but then he heard them again, louder this time and increasing in pace…

Then a dark silhouette began to rise over the walkway's ramp, bouncing up and down as it ran in his direction. Silver moonlight glinted off of what looked like a head and the officer started, parting his lips to address the approaching stranger.

But then suddenly, they vanished.

The guard blinked and rubbed his eyes before taking a step forward to examine the empty path in front of him. He looked at his partner. "Hey."

The second officer stirred and snorted, then jumped and looked around anxiously. "Hu-wha? I wud'n sleepin'…" The first soldier ignored him.

"Did you hear something?"

The guard sniffed and reached beneath his helmet to rub tired eyes. "No…what?"

"Footsteps?"

"No…"

"…Hm." The first guard refaced the ramp, eyebrows furrowed. "Then maybe I imagined it – " But he cut off with a grunt when an unseen force shoved into his belly, burning him through his armor. Then a hard and rough object collided with the side of his neck, knocking him unconscious before he hit the ground and sending his lance clattering by his side.

Seeing this, the second officer jumped and held his own lance out in front of him, slowly backing away from whatever had attacked his fallen comrade. Through bleary eyes he watched the vacant walkway, and anxiety seized him.

Then there was the faint sound of movement, of feet sliding across the stone ground. Instantly he turned, screaming and swinging his lance wildly.

But something whacked him in the face, ending his battle cry and knocking him back. He blinked and stumbled dazedly, then growled and took to waving his weapon again, hoping it would catch some part of his invisible opponent.

Seconds later wind whistled in his ears and a large, black item sailed through the air towards him, moving with such speed that he barely had the chance to register it as a rock before it slammed into his chin. His body twisted as though the stone had been fired from a cannon, spit flying from his mouth, and he crumbled to the ground.

The torches snapped noisily, overpowering his soft moan and footsteps sounded again, moving at a slow, leisurely walk. Then one of the fallen guards' lances rose into the air, as if lifted by an invisible hand.

After hovering mysteriously, its butt end pounded into the ground and Dijonay came into view, her head floating ominously before the rest of her body appeared as though painted into being.

Behind her another head bobbed about before the rest of his body leaked into existence, and he silently observed the two fallen soldiers, almost surprised at how easy it had been to defeat them.

"If we were correct in the information that we gathered," Dijonay started, turning to the mage, "then that means these soldiers will be found within two hours. We have that much time to make it inside and find the dungeons before any alarms are sounded."

Mekial nodded.

He refaced the great doors in front of them and then approached the stone wall they were built in, curling his hands into fists and slamming them against the solid barrier. Stones jittered in their respective places in the wall and then jutted out, forming what looked remotely similar to the rungs of a ladder.

Hurriedly Mekial ascended them towards the head of the wall with Dijonay right behind him, adjusting her stolen lance as she climbed.

At the top the two squeezed through the crenels and tiptoed onto the parapet, where Dijonay looked to the left and right to see if there were any more soldiers around. As she did so Mekial slapped his palms upon the wall they had ascended, flattening the rungs of his stone ladder into their former places.

He turned, expecting to see Dijonay giving him the sign that all was well enough for them to continue. But instead she was standing at a crouch, perfectly still, with her eyes fixed on the bridge below. Curiously Mekial approached to see what she was looking at.

"More guards," he observed, looking to the two officers standing before yet another pair of arched doors. "What now?"

"The same as before," was the blunt answer the prime minister gave.

So, treading quietly, the two climbed down a ladder placed on the opposite side of the parapet and dashed towards the officers, Dijonay gripping Mekial's wrist and waiting for the sensation of the boy's invisibility charm to flow through him and overcome her.

Once it had and she was sure that she could not be seen, she and her bodyguard rushed the soldiers, who saw nothing but a floating lance before being rendered unconscious.

With them down, Mekial again went through the process of creating a ladder to guide them to the parapet above the doors and, once there, the two knelt down and peered through one of the crenels to observe the castle grounds below.

There, they could see the faint illumination of torches standing beneath scattered archways, as well as the faint forms of castle guards patrolling the manor's property. A large walkway, which forked at its center towards either side of the grounds, spanned the entire land from the gates they stood upon to the castle's front door, its sides flanked by a few perfectly trimmed bushes and two tall pillars that bore a statue of the Triforce at their heads. Dijonay and Mekial's eyes then moved to look at the grand building that overshadowed the grounds, and their mouths immediately fell open.

Nearly obscuring the entire night sky Hyrule Castle loomed over them, as though daring them to try and venture through its enormous interior. Long, stone bridges connected the grand central building to a series of conical spire towers surrounding it, red flags flapping in the cool night air at their crowns. Glass windows along the castle walls glared in the moonlight and a tower in the middle of the central structure reached for the stars to scrape against the moon, which cast its shadow long and tall across the grounds far below.

"It is…enormous," Dijonay breathed quietly, gazing wide-eyed at the colossal building.

"A lot bigger than the Estate," Mekial added. "Almost as big as the emperor's place."

Dijonay nodded numbly, then shook herself out of her trance. "But we have no time to stare – we must find where they're keeping the others."

She rose to find a way off the wall and discovered another ladder not too far away. She descended it and Mekial after her, and then the two hopped onto the castle grounds below and broke into a run, dashing through the shadows as they headed for the castle's front door. Only twice did they hide behind a bush to avoid capture by any of the guards and without any other worries they arrived at the front entrance and slipped inside.

This first room that they entered was quickly presumed to be the castle's Entrance Hall: suspended from the high ceiling were large, palace chandeliers, their lights glittering famously, and a balcony wrapped around half of the area. Two carpeted staircases climbed up on either side of the room, leading to the wrap-around balcony, and the edge of their railings curved into swirls, with triangular statuettes placed on pedestals in front of them.

Glancing at one another, Dijonay and Mekial quickly darted up the staircase on the right and opened up one of the balcony's doors, stepping within to find themselves standing in a hall that bent towards the left. Like the room before it, it gave a large impression of the royal family's wealth, with its golden-trimmed, red banners and great paintings of portraits and scenery.

But knowing their reason for intruding upon the place, the two rushed through this hall and into the next one, proceeding to run blindly through the castle as they searched for a passage that would lead them to the dungeons. More than once Mekial wondered if they would, at some point, run into the princess and be able to negotiate the release of Link, Renée, Brent and Katrina.

But fate did not favor such an encounter, instead allowing the two to open the doors of dead-end rooms such as offices and studies, or even supply closets. Twice they opened the door to the Castle Library on two different ends of the castle, which led them to silently grumble about the building's ridiculous proportions.

But still they continued, hoping that somehow, someway they would find the correct door and find their allies, then be able to depart from this dizzying place. But their hope was gradually dimmed by despair as the night crept along, and was practically smothered when they were nearly caught on multiple occasions. And upon opening the door of their umpteenth dead-end room, it almost instantly dissipated.

"This is ridiculous," Mekial grumbled as they turned to find another route. "How are we supposed to find the dungeons when every door we open leads to the same thing? It's almost like someone wanted us to get lost!"

"Perhaps we are trying the wrong path," Dijonay considered, stopping short when she spotted a descending staircase. "We should try the lower floors." Though looking as if he wanted to retort Mekial complied, following the governess down the stairs and onto the level below.

Here, the young ruler glanced up and down the passageway before descending another set of stairs across from the one she and her bodyguard had emerged from, scurrying down its steep steps and thus stumbling in her haste.

Quickly she grasped at the close walls to catch herself and wound up stopping completely, causing Mekial to crash into her back and send them both tumbling down the remaining steps.

But fortunately there had not been many left and the two received nothing more than a few minor bruises when they landed in a heap on the lower floor. Rising from the ground, they rubbed their new sore spots before absorbing the sight of the area they now stood in.

It was yet another hall, though much smaller than the last and completely made of stone. Light drafts tickled at their exposed skin and, wandering further in, the two discovered the faint wind to be passing through open-air windows that lined the entire corridor. Torch holders were placed in between each of these windows, the firelight they carried dancing and bouncing in each breeze and causing shadows to bound and flicker across the walls.

Through the windows on the right the two could gaze upon the wide cityscape of Castle Town, its rooftops glistening beneath silver moonlight, while on the left they could see part of Hyrule Castle bending around a corner.

Dropping their eyes beneath the stone sill, they found themselves to be standing rather high above the castle grounds, so high in fact that the guards below could be compared to the dolls of a child. Dizzied by the thought, Dijonay withdrew from the window to stand in the hall's center.

Undeterred by the immense height of his location, Mekial returned to the passage and peered down to its end, where he spotted the form of a lone, wooden door. After pointing it out to his friend, the two headed towards it and Dijonay grasped the handle, then pulled.

But it didn't open.

Frowning, she gripped the bar handle with both hands and hauled again, only to receive the same result. Her frown deepening she shook the door and then took a small step back, staring at it mournfully.

"I suppose…we will have to find yet another path to take," she stated sadly. Beside her Mekial moaned as if he were in pain and grabbed his short, dark hair. Dijonay turned to look at him, and her inquiry left her lips before she could catch it, "Are you all right?"

"All right?" Mekial snapped abruptly and glared up at her. "_All righ –_?! My sister is in jail and we can't find her because some genius architect decided to make this place the size of a city!" he burst, his voice echoing so loudly that Dijonay presumed it could be heard by the soldiers outside. "Can you blame me for being frustrated?!"

Worriedly, Dijonay held out a hand and waved it towards the ground. "Ssh, please, calm down," she said, glancing towards one of the windows. "Someone might hear –"

Mekial, offset by her inconsiderate order, opened his mouth to snap again and remind her how long he had been separated from his sister, how long he had waited to be able to see her again and know that she was all right. He wanted to remind her that their reunion had not lasted long enough, that she was in prison and needed saving –

But then the sound of approaching feet silenced his racing thoughts and clamped his mouth shut. His cloak swished softly as he whirled around to face the other end of the corridor, and behind him Dijonay readied her lance. Silently they waited, their hearts pounding, as the sound of the footsteps remained at a steadfast level before gradually increasing until the two were sure that whoever was coming was now descending the staircase.

Mekial held up his hands and snapped his fingers, sending a burst of magic from their tips. Instantly the drafts strengthened, causing the fabric of his cloak and Dijonay's dress to flap wildly, and the flames along the wall to sway like staggering drunkards. Outside a soft, gray cloud crawled over the moon with the increase of wind and all at once the torches went out, drowning the corridor in darkness.

But the advancing being did not cease; rather, he or she kept their speed, bursting from the stairwell and sprinting down the passage with such haste that the moonlight beginning to stream through its cloudy blanket could only catch glimpses of their form. Even still Mekial watched the progressing figure closely, catching some of their features as they passed each window: it was a man –

Blonde –

Well-built –

Tanned –

Red-eyed –

By the last observation the conclusive words of a spell were already flying from Mekial's tongue and wind surged through the windows, blowing with such might that the oncoming adversary was forced to stumble back and fall to one knee, his left arm raised to prevent stray dirt from flying into his eyes.

Seeing this, Mekial held up a hand and pushed out another burst of energy, increasing the gale so that it lifted the man off his feet and tossed him back to the middle of the corridor.

Even as he flew back the man twisted in the air, regaining just enough balance to be able to stretch out an arm, a long whip shooting from his hand to strike one of his enemies. Without hesitation Mekial turned his outstretched palm to the floor and pushed down, silencing the wind and shoving the whip to the ground.

Moonlight filtered through the windows once more, illuminating the form of the man that Mekial battled. He stood to his feet, for the wind had succeeded at throwing him to the ground, and wrenched his arm back, yanking the whip towards him.

He barely looked as though he had wearied from the fight and stood tall and straight, his slim red eyes piercing his opponents through fringes of blonde hair. Behind him, Mekial sensed Dijonay tense and heard the grip on her lance tighten as she locked eyes with the man, her heart thundering at the horrid familiarity of his blood-colored irises.

Mekial brushed his cloak over his shoulders to better free his arms in preparation of the next round, only to blink with confusion when the man lowered his guard and concealed the whip within his cloak. Taking this as a sign of surrender, Mekial, too, straightened up.

"You're not guards," the man said finally, his voice smooth and even, and he looked at them more closely. When he spoke again, only the rising of his eyebrows showed that he was surprised, "You're children." Small movement from behind Mekial attracted his focus and he looked at Dijonay to find that she had taken on a more battle-ready position. He raised his hands. "I don't want to fight you. I have no reason to."

"You are strangely merciful," Dijonay noted, her tone sardonic and her brown eyes fastened on his red ones. Malbex's face flashed in her mind, his red eyes burning brightly. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"Well, his hands _are _up in surrender," Mekial pointed out, looking to her out of the corner of his eye.

The man watched them silently. "Neither of you look as though you belong here," he said calmly. "So I'm left to presume that you're here for something."

"We are not thieves if that is what you are thinking," Dijonay interrupted firmly, her eyes narrowing. But the man shook his head. "And you?"

"I suppose you could call me a thief," the man replied, lowering his hands. "But I'm not here as a thief of material goods." Dijonay hesitated then and she exchanged glances with her bodyguard.

"Then…" She eyed the man suspiciously, and shifted her stance. "You are here…for someone?"

Barely a second after she had asked this the scream of metal crashing against metal erupted into being, rattling the walls and shearing the night's silence.

Moments after, voices began roaring and shouting orders over the clamor and Mekial and Dijonay looked at one another worriedly.

"Warning bells," the blonde-haired man murmured softly, staring out of one of the windows. But he had been sure to keep his presence a secret from all of the castle's inhabitants. How then, did they figure to ring the alarm?

He returned his gaze to the children accusingly, and saw that they were turning to face the door at the bridge's end. The boy was reaching out to press his palms against it, which were glowing a threatening, fiery orange…

Anticipating the worst, Sheik called for him to cease but was too late – at the boy's touch the door erupted with a terrifying roar and ebony smoke barreled forward, bowling into Sheik and racing to merge with the black sky outside.

After the wind had subsided and the dark clouds had thinned Sheik sprinted forward, vanishing into the black soot and stopping at the hall's end to find that the young intruders were gone.

But he did not need to wonder of their location for long because, over the wailing of the bells, there came more shouts barking orders in rough, hoarse tones. Sheik flew forward to descend the spiraling staircase beyond the shattered remains of the door and, once at its base, ran through the open door at the bottom and onto the night grounds outside.

There he looked to both sides, doing a double-take to his right when he spotted two small figures sprinting across the yard towards a nearby tower. From what seemed like all sides of them soldiers were swarming, lances ready as they made to surround the pair.

And it was at that moment Sheik suddenly wondered: should he bother with helping them? If he were to allow the soldiers to deal with those two, he would easily be able to sneak around them and find his way to the dungeons, then rescue Link and the allies that were said to be with him.

But while he did that, those two trespassers would be arrested and imprisoned, Sheik realized.

Though, would they not deserve it for intruding upon his castle?

But they were not there to steal anything, he remembered the girl had said, and they were not overly threatening; in fact, they were merely children. Regardless of their reasons for being in the castle so late at night, they did not deserve to have soldiers attack them, did they? Especially if those traitorous beings were working for people like Alexandria and Tentra.

At the thought of those two Sheik's fists instantly clenched and his red eyes grew fearsome.

Then he sprinted towards the children and the mob of guards trailing them, reaching into a pack on his side for his throwing needles. Loading his hand with them he picked up speed, the plait of hair on his back flying behind him and his feet making the softest of sounds against the short grass.

Dijonay and Mekial had only made it halfway towards the next tower before some of their pursuers fell on them, whom Mekial easily tossed aside with a wave of his arm and a blast of wind. Yelling, they flew over the rest of the officers that chased the pair, who were quickly gaining on them.

"Perhaps we really should have tried another route!" Dijonay shouted to Mekial and stumbled to a halt when more soldiers arrived in front of them, quickly blocking their path to the tower. The young bodyguard moved in front of her to face them, throwing his cloak over his shoulders.

"I don't think anything would've changed if we did," he said and waved his arms, conjuring up another gale to fend off the newly arrived enemies. Some of them staggered back, arms up to block the strong wind, while others were completely knocked off their feet.

The flames that flickered upon a torch one of them held rose and danced madly in Mekial's attack, its light striking the purple stone embedded in his forehead. Some soldiers' eyes widened.

"It's a Ravine mage!" one of them roared.

"Be careful, men! He's dangerous!"

"Hyrule is rather knowledgeable," Dijonay whispered to the boy, eyeing the guards as they slowly circled the two. She tightened the grip on her lance and poised it for battle.

"Yeah…" Absentmindedly, Mekial scratched at a spot just beneath the stone in his skull, recalling that he had not been born with it, as Ravine mages were, but that it was a blessed stone given to all of the prime ministers' bodyguards to enhance their strength. "But they're only half right." Dijonay turned to face the guards approaching from the rear, her eyes burning with resolution in the light of their torches.

"Surrender now and neither of you will be harmed!" one of them called out.

"You have nowhere to go!" shouted another from in front of Mekial. "Don't try to fight – you're completely surrounded!"

Mekial's eyes roved over the small army, the sound of bells still shrieking in the background. Though there were not many of them, there were just enough and fighting them would in fact be a bad idea. As Dijonay's bodyguard he was meant to protect her from danger and, analyzing the situation, he knew that the most dangerous choice for him to make would be to choose to fight. There was no way for them to take on all of these officers at once.

Just as he parted his lips to say this to Dijonay, one of the guards suddenly went rigid and collapsed. Looking down to see what had happened, the soldiers surrounding him spotted a slender, silver needle poking out of the man's nape.

Then a white whip wrapped around another guard's neck and hauled him backward, creating a small opening in the circle of patrol officers. Through it someone jumped and landed in front of Dijonay, two more throwing needles poking out from between the fingers of his raised fist. With torchlight burning in the mob around him, his red eyes glowed menacingly.

"There's another!" a guard shouted in shock and took a small step forward. "Who knows how many more there are! We can't let them escape – arrest them all, now!"

"Cover your eyes," Sheik ordered quietly and Dijonay and Mekial looked at him, then raised their eyes as he drew up a hand, which was clutching what looked like a small brown nut.

Trusting his words, the two ducked and covered their eyes, Sheik bringing up an arm to his own. Then, with the soldiers lunging forward, he swung his hand down and his fingers unfurled over the Deku nut, letting it crash into the ground with a bone-chilling _crack._ The seed broke apart and blinding light shot forth, glaring into the eyes of those ignorant to watch.

And when it faded, the intruders were gone.


	58. Chapter 57

**Chapter Fifty-Seven**

Slowly, Dijonay lowered her arm and opened her once scrunched eyes to view her surroundings. The torchlight was gone, as were the soldiers, and the sound of the ringing alarm was now muffled and distant, as if it were miles away. She then dropped her eyes to her feet, for the ground no longer felt soft, and saw that she was standing on a parapet.

Two walls ran parallel on either side of the low wall, following a downward ramp towards a large stone archway, which opened out into what she knew to be the Castle Town Plaza. Instantly she recognized her present location as the place where she and Mekial had knocked out the first two guards and looked around in astonishment, her mind reeling.

Then she whirled around, only to fall back to the ground with a yelp when the ominous black silhouette of Hyrule Castle met her gaze, glaring down at her for escaping capture. Recovering from the small pain of her fall, Dijonay looked towards the sides of the castle, still able to hear the faint voices of the soldiers who were, by now, hunting across the grounds for their former prey.

"What's going on?" Dijonay started at the voice and looked to see Mekial standing up beside her, his eyes also fixed on the castle. "How did we end up here?"

He looked towards a third figure that was standing on the side of the parapet closest to the castle with his back towards them.

Quickly, Dijonay recognized him as the blonde stranger from the bridge. Then, she recalled his arrival when she and Mekial had been surrounded and she rose to her feet.

"I used a special Deku nut," the man answered shortly. "It lets out a flash and at the same time takes those closest to it to a previously marked location."

Blinking inquisitively, Mekial looked around for something similar to what the man had described, then spotted faint white marks scratched into the merlon in front of him. Dijonay also spotted the pale markings, and looked back at their creator.

"Who are you?" she asked firmly. "And why…why did you help us?" At this the man finally turned to face them.

"My name is Sheik," he replied. "And I helped you because, if you really had been in the castle for something, being caught wouldn't have been of use to you." Dijonay's eyes tightened.

"I am…Dijonay," she said, remembering manners despite the strange circumstances, and then held out a hand to her guard. "And this is Mekial. We were…intruding," she added in a low tone, "so why do you trust us?"

"I'm not a soldier," Sheik answered her. "I was also intruding. So, since we were all doing the same thing, why shouldn't we help each other?" Silence pervaded them then, informing them that the screaming bells had been hushed. "If I might ask, what were you in the castle for?"

Dijonay and Mekial looked at one another before returning their eyes to Sheik.

"We were trying to save someone," Dijonay answered him slowly, her eyes falling to the ground with returning shame, "because he was framed. And the rest of our comrades were imprisoned with him."

"…Framed?" Sheik's slim eyes narrowed. "For what?"

"For leading the soldiers' rebellion," Mekial piped up. "And for…the loss of some citizens' lives…" He remembered the sickening sight of the plaza the day that he and the others had arrived in the capital and was glad that the people of the city had finally cleared out the bodies.

"Link." At the sound of the man's name, both Mekial and Dijonay gave a small start. "That's the name of the man you're speaking of."

"Y-yes," Dijonay affirmed, nodding. "You…do you know him?"

This time it was Sheik's turn to nod. "And like you, I don't believe he was responsible for what happened that night. I was also in the castle to find him." At this, hope found its way to the prime minister's visage once more and her previous suspicions of the man began to ebb away.

"Then…you will help us rescue him, as well as the rest of our friends?" she asked, drawing a hand to her chest.

Sheik nodded once more. "Yes. I'm guessing that you two planned on going to the dungeons to get them?" The two nodded. "Unfortunately for us then, we can't use that idea anymore." He turned his head to view the large building behind him. "Security will most likely be tightened and, though they're not the best soldiers in the world, I don't doubt that if we all were to go in a second time we'd get caught."

"Then what do we do?" Mekial pressed, staring sadly at the shadowy building. "My sister's in there…"

"…Since we all want to save Link, I propose that we collaborate and create a plan to save him and the others," Sheik said, turning to look between the two, "in three days' time."

"Three days?" Dijonay repeated, frowning. "What is happening in three days?" From this, Sheik gathered that the pair had not been in the plaza that evening. He inwardly cringed, wishing he did not have to reveal the disheartening news to them but on the outside his expression remained plaintive.

"In three days," he began, "Link and the rest of your friends will be given a public execution." Mekial's shoulders stiffened and his heart began to beat so fast that he felt it might burst from his chest.

"H-how do you know this?" Dijonay stammered, unable to keep her body from shaking at the thought of the faces of Link and the others, their skin a deathly pallor.

"There was a show trial in the plaza," Sheik replied. Then, almost reluctantly, added, "Princess Zelda herself made the announcement."

"The princess?" Dijonay turned from Sheik to Mekial. "But we were supposed to see her, were we not?"

"I guess she believes he did the crime, too," Mekial figured remorsefully and Sheik held his tongue before continuing.

"Should we rescue Link and the others on the day of the execution, no one will be expecting it," he said. "And like I said, it's three days away, which gives us plenty of time to prepare. By then the soldiers may also let their guard down, if we're lucky." He paused then, waiting for one of them to voice a reply.

Although he did not wish to admit it he needed their help, for attempting to rescue Link and who knew how many other people during an execution would be difficult for one person to handle. And having a mage like Mekial on his side would no doubt help his chances.

At Sheik's request the magic wielder stared down at the ground, coiling and uncoiling a fist uncertainly. But above this emotion welled indignation, for he was upset that the man would even consider asking him to take part in such an idea.

How could Mekial wait three days, hoping that he could save his sister from being publically murdered? How could he wait three days, knowing that each day he was outside in the fresh air, she was in a cold, dank dungeon?

He wanted to save her now so that he could stop worrying. He wanted her out of there at that moment. This ambition grew inside of him, burning fiercely, and he wished he could go back to the castle to retrieve his sibling, the only part of his family that he had left.

But could he? When thinking of Sheik's statement he realized that the security probably would be stronger if they were to go back to the castle. Then, he would no doubt end up in the dungeon with Renée, and that would be far from what he wanted.

The boy pumped a fist by his side and clenched his teeth, searching his mind for an idea that could outdo Sheik's. But nothing came to him.

As the man had said, saving Link, Renée and the others on the day they were supposed to die would be highly unanticipated. Everyone in the city was expected to despise them; no one would see it coming.

Mekial's fist relaxed and he slid Dijonay a sad look, who stared at him with a similar expression, and he figured that the same revelation had crossed her mind as well. They then looked at Sheik, whose patience seemed as thick as when he had begun waiting.

"Well?"

"You…" Dijonay stopped and then sighed heavily. "You are probably right. Saving them on the day of execution is our only hope. And we cannot fail, for if we do…" Malbex's pale face leaped up from her memories, and the part of his plan he had revealed to her coursed through her mind. If Link were to die, there would be no stopping Malbex from getting what he wanted. "…Then all is lost…"

Sheik regarded her quietly before speaking. "Then we won't fail." He rounded on Hyrule Castle, his own home, filled with all of the people who did not even blink when they decided to betray him. After rescuing Link he would use his aid to remove them from the castle as well as Alexandria and Tentra, who seemed to desire the Hyrulean throne.

For their sake, he would not fail.

"We'll find an inn to stay at until the day comes. Tonight we'll get some sleep and tomorrow we'll talk more."

Then he turned and jumped off of the wall to land on the parapet parallel to it and, after staring at him in bewilderment, Mekial and Dijonay hastily climbed down from the wall towards the same path, following it at a crouch so as to keep out of sight of the replacement guards at the gate.

* * *

Finding an inn had not taken long, for Sheik seemed to know his way around the city. Unlike the abandoned back-alley shack that Dijonay and Mekial had taken up residence in during the few days they had spent gathering information on the soldiers' shifts and security levels of the castle, the inn was located on the western side of the city, just across from a church. It was small and stood between two buildings; had Sheik not pointed it out, Dijonay believed that she and Mekial would have walked right by it.

Inside Sheik rented a small room, which was lit by a hanging lantern and had just enough space in it for two beds, a table and a cot. After ordering the room he had gone back out, claiming he had some other business to attend to and thus leaving Mekial and Dijonay behind. Though knowing he was probably expecting them to get some rest while he was out they could not, for they were far too troubled by their harried thoughts to do so.

Dijonay sat on the edge of one of the beds, toying with the fabric of her dress and repeatedly glancing up at Mekial who sat at the table, playing with a flower in the vase placed on its surface.

The clock on the wall ticked loudly and the hanging lantern above crackled noisily, straining Dijonay's ears and sending adrenaline shooting through her veins. Finally she shifted on the bed to face Mekial who, seeing the movement, looked at her.

"My vision," she started slowly and instantly the boy locked his attention on her. Ever since the day Link, Renée, Brent and Katrina had been arrested, she had not spoken of the vision she had had while in the Gorons' mines. So, silently, he waited for her to go on. "I…" She closed her eyes and her eyebrows crinkled. "I knew…" she almost whispered.

"Knew?" Mekial echoed, asking it in a way that implied he was wondering if he had heard right. When she nodded, he frowned. "Knew what?"

Dijonay grabbed a fistful of the bed sheets. "I saw it…" she said quietly, and opened her eyes to look at the bed, where the flyer from her vision stared up at her. "I saw what it said. That Link was a wanted criminal. And I watched as…as the soldier arrested him…and the others…" She closed her eyes again, shame washing over her. "I knew…but I did not say anything."

There was silence then, its mass so thick that Dijonay felt she was suffocating. She stole a peek at Mekial, and found that he was staring at her with a stupefied and perplexed expression.

"Why didn't you warn us?" he asked finally, his voice tight.

"Because I…" Dijonay thought back to the night Link had asked if she had seen anything new in her vision and her heart lurched with guilt. In hindsight, her reasons for staying silent seemed so foolish. "Because I thought that he had done it," she said, wishing she could snatch the words back and swallow them. "Because I thought that he was…really a murderer and that…that he had been tricking us the entire time…"

Mekial watched her, his dark eyes practically searing her from within. "You thought that because he's Hylian, didn't you." It did not even sound like a question. Dijonay looked at him and could barely force herself to nod or make a sound of confirmation. "So you let him get arrested all because of what he looks like?"

Dijonay dropped her eyes, tears of regret beading at their corners. Truthfully, she had always been jealous of Mekial not being biased towards Hylians. Perhaps it was because he was young and saw everyone as equal – or perhaps it had been because of his parents, who seemed so much more moral than her own.

"All because of his pointy ears and that stupid flood that he wasn't even a part of…" He shook his head and fury engulfed his small body.

"So because of you, my sister's in jail all because of him being a Hylian?!" He jumped from his seat, his chair flying back. "I haven't seen my sister since I was _nine years old_, Dijonay! All because the Imperial Guard came to make me your bodyguard after Mom and Dad died and they put Renée into an orphanage! And now when I can see her again, you let her get arrested?!"

"They were all Hylians and Helpers, Mekial!" Dijonay suddenly protested. "I thought…I thought that what I had been taught was true when I saw that vision: that Hylians really were terrible people and deserved to be imprisoned or chained up… I thought they deserved it and that I would go back to Arkania with you and finally locate all of those 'Hylian Civil Rights' hideouts like Mattatheus has been saying, knowing that Arkanians have been right all along!" She sniffed and a tear trailed down her cheek. "But now I know that I was wrong…that Arkanians were wrong… That, maybe, not all Hylians deserve to be locked up… That maybe…it is we that should be behind bars…" She sniffed and lowered her eyes to the ground. "The Arkanians…"

Mekial scoffed and plopped himself back into the seat, glaring at a corner of the room as he seethed. "Isn't Brent your brother?" he asked a while later. "Don't you care about him at all? By letting Link get arrested you went and let him get arrested, too! Didn't that make you feel _anything_?!"

Dijonay wiped her watering eyes and looked up at him, surprised. "H-how did you know – _sniff_ – that h-he was my brother? I never…t-told anyone…"

"Your maids gossip a lot," the boy answered flatly. "And when my mom was a maid at the Estate, I remember hearing rumors that your dad had a half-Hylian for a kid."

Dijonay studied him for a moment longer, then lowered her eyes to stare at the ground. And she wondered: had she felt anything when she decided to allow her own brother to walk into the castle by Link's side?

No one had been sure of where Brent's Hylian blood had come from, she recalled. But when he had been born, all had noticed that his ears were just a bit pointier than the average human's, but it had not been too noticeable. Even so, his birth had never been made public, so as to preserve the reputation of Dijonay's father. For in a land filled with people that despised Hylians, it would be unwise to announce that those peoples' leader was the father of a half-Hylian.

But still Brent had been allowed to live in the Estate, where he was simply passed off as the son of a maid from Lenora, which explained the color of his hair.

But when he turned seven, his Hylian genes strengthened and his ears curved into subtle points – the resemblance between he and his father also became apparent, and rumors began to spread that Brent was the prime minister's son, and that he had had an affair with the woman claimed to be his mother.

And so, to protect himself, Dijonay's father started to seal Brent in small closets when company came, telling all who asked that the boy had passed away as a result of disease.

Dijonay had always been told not to go near Brent when she was younger, for her father did not wish for her to be "tainted" by his half-breed presence.

_Half-breed._

That was right: Brent was a half-breed. Half-Hylian. A monster not worthy of attention. Despicable.

Untrustworthy.

Selfish.

That was what she had always been told. And that was what she had always believed. And when Brent was finally disowned at eight years old, cast out onto the rainy streets of Revale with nothing but the clothes on his back and a bag of food that would last him barely over a week, she had been glad.

His presence could no longer taint her. She no longer had to hear his muffled whimpers from inside the closets their father locked him in. He would die out on the streets.

Thinking this, she realized: she had never really had any feelings for Brent. Although she had hoped he was not a terrible person when she foresaw his breaking into the Estate, she had grown to lose faith in him when she had heard word of the Thrall Cell raid and instantly figured it to be his doing.

That event proved him to be destructive, just as Hylians were said to be, and so allowing him to be arrested in Castle Town had not been painful for her at all. Her father's teachings had slowly, but surely, hardened her heart towards him.

And that was not fair. She had abandoned him, without even giving him a chance to prove that he was different, just as their father had.

So who was really despicable?

Who was really the selfish one?

Dijonay bowed her head and hunched her shoulders while wrapping her arms around her body. "I made a terrible mistake," she confessed softly. "I did something…terrible. I'm sorry." She lifted her head to look at Mekial through shiny, watery eyes. "I am…truly sorry."

Mekial broke eye contact with her and stared at the table, then hopped out of the seat and made his way towards the room's door. "I can't say 'I forgive you' yet," he said without looking at her and opened the room's exit. "I'm taking a walk."

He stepped out into the hall and slammed the door, making the wooden walls rattle in sync with his stomping boots as he stormed off. When the trembling ceased, Dijonay brought her legs up onto the bed and hid her face in her knees, nothing but the faint crackling and popping of the room's lamplight and the ticking clock to keep her company.


	59. Chapter 58

**Chapter Fifty-Eight**

Scarlet light gleamed over the horizon, setting the crests of distant mountains ablaze. Burning through the smoky bodies of the hovering clouds, the fiery glare cast long shadows across the twilit sky and soft lighting upon the streets of Castle Town below.

Citizens that meandered through this light as it filled the city carried about their business as they always had, stopping to gossip with friends or basking in the pleasant weather before the bite of winter was due to roll in. Others found it satisfying to merely sit in the plaza and gaze into the fountain, lost in thoughts and memories of the event that had once rendered the popular spot intolerable.

The bloodstains of the rebellion had been scrubbed away now, leaving faint red smears across the stone paths but were still barely noticeable enough to draw any eyes. The bodies had also long-since been cleared away, being lifted into wagons where they were wheeled out to the cemetery for burial.

Many had mourned the deaths of loved ones, but their sadness had quickly melted into anger upon learning of the one responsible for their losses. After the trial that had occurred in the city square it mutated into a form of relief, telling them that all that had been killed would soon be avenged.

Posters announcing the capture of the murderer and leader of the rebellion had been nailed to almost every billboard in the city and hung beside entrances to every shop. All that passed the flyer glowered upon the visage of Link and across some posters the man's face had even been scribbled on.

In one short night, the young man had become a scornful being whose name the majority nearly spat out. Some of them almost seemed impatient as they awaited his execution, which was to be carried out that very evening. With it, they would be satisfied, for he deserved death after what he had done to them.

Alexandria sighed.

_If only they knew the truth._

She tilted her chin up, changing her viewpoint of the city. An event like the Soldier's Rebellion would never blow over easily, she presumed. But even so, the citizens' current state was exactly what was needed.

Without knowing it they were leaderless, just like some of the countries that surrounded them. They had been struck blindly, dazing them and leaving them vulnerable for the next attack, which would come just as swiftly as the first.

Whether they knew it or not, their government was collapsing. Just like the neighboring lands.

Just like it should be.

Alexandria's eyes flashed in the amber light as she turned to view another section of the city, her finger toying with a lock of bright, silver hair. Twirling it around for a moment longer, she dropped her hand and turned her back on the castle window to view the lounge room she stood in, which was decorated with cushion chairs and a vacant hearth, with an engraving of the royal family crest above it.

She approached one of the chairs and plopped into its soft padding. Adjusting herself, she raised her eyes to the triangular mark of the crest and observed it with a placid expression.

She had often wondered why Malbex was so obsessed with the item the sign indicated. In fact, she had often wondered what he was going to do with it. He hardly told her anything anymore.

Losing interest in the image, Alexandria lowered her eyes to brush something off of her gown. After the speck was gone she plucked at the dress's silky fabric and crinkled her brow. How was it that Princess Zelda could stand wearing dresses like these? With having to wear attire like this everyday, she wondered how the woman ever got anything done.

And the _heels_.

_Gods._

Malbex was lucky she had agreed to do this. If she had it her way she would have ripped the dress and traded her shoes for something more comfortable.

But something like that would definitely make the townspeople suspicious. And she could not risk that, regardless of her feelings.

She had to act like a princess just a bit longer.

A sudden, hollow knocking sound pierced her thoughts, echoing throughout the room in a sharp, staccato beat. Bothered, Alexandria leaned over one of the chair's arms to peer at the door behind her.

"P-Princess," a voice uttered from beyond the barrier, "someone to see you."

Alexandria closed her eyes and sat back in the seat. "Who is it?"

"Captain Inkert, your Highness."

_Who...?_

Alexandria racked her brain for a face to match the name she had been given, naming each visage as they appeared in her mind. But nothing showed to pair with the name 'Inkert'.

With a drawn-out sigh, she placed a hand on the crown of her head and then let it slide down to the princess's golden headpiece, a brown color darkening the roots of her hair.

"...I thought I told you that I was not to be disturbed, and that no one was allowed inside the castle," she said, her eyes reverting to a deep blue. Her jaw lengthened slightly, as did her nose and ears. "Why is he here?"

"He...he claims that it's urgent, your Highness," the man went on. "And he's a captain, so I can't..."

"Fine." Alexandria stood to her feet. "Come in."

There was a soft click, followed by a creak as the door swung open. Armor clinked and boots thumped across the wide floor, then stopped short. Zelda rounded the chair as the being shifted, falling to one knee with his face to the ground. The princess' eyes narrowed as she tried to identify the man's features but, having no success, she addressed him instead.

"State your business, Captain."

"Princess," Regal began, his head still bowed, "I had come to tell you information regarding my mission, but was kept out by the guards at the gate. I apologize for keeping you."

"…Hm."

"I have come to tell you that I found Link," the captain went on, "in the village of Kakariko less than a week ago." Zelda's eyebrow arched.

"What?"

"Link, Your Highness," the captain repeated, glancing up at her. "You sent me out to find him. Don't you remember?" Alexandria stared down at him, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to recall if she herself had ordered for him to find Link and bring him to the castle. But she could remember no such occurrence: as far as she knew, Link had arrived at the castle on his own.

More than once Alexandria had found herself wondering of the reason behind Link's sudden yet convenient arrival, entertaining the idea that Malbex had played some sort of role in it. But now with this new information, she was forced to conclude that it had not been his doing. But if it had not been him, then who else could it have been?

The question had barely formed when an answer came to her:

_Zelda._

Alexandria's eyes flinched and her hand, once relaxed by her side, twitched subtly. Hyrule's true ruler must have sent this captain out before she and Tentra had taken over. But she could have only done that if she had somehow known that the Link she had seen in the office was false.

Alexandria's mind whirred. Did this mean that Zelda also knew that the Soldier's Rebellion was really Tentra's doing?

If this was true then she must have figured everything out right before she had fled the castle. Who knew what she was doing now, or how she planned to retake her kingdom.

Who knew if she would manage to overthrow both she and Tentra, and maybe even Malbex with them.

Mentally Alexandria shook her head, sending the thought away. Regardless of what this captain before her said it meant nothing now: Link was in prison and everything would play out fine.

It would all be fine.

"Link is here," she said as firmly as she could manage. "And he is responsible for the devastation of the city and the loss of half of my military men."

"With all do respect princess, I am aware of this," Regal replied. "But I believe that you have the wrong man."

Zelda raised an eyebrow again. "Oh?"

"While I had been unable to contact you, I learned that this 'Soldier's Rebellion' had occurred the same day that I was in Kakariko." The officer raised his head to meet Zelda's eyes. "The same day that I found Link. It was not possible for him to have been here that night." He studied her face for a brief moment, noticing that she appeared rather harried by his words. He paused, awaiting her reply.

"My people saw him run through the city, leading those soldiers in their rebellion," Zelda stated. "Those soldiers that betrayed me have already been handled. Now that we have Link, their leader, he will receive his just punishment."

"Princess please," Regal implored, "I have spoken with the citizens and there are actually many who doubt that Link is guilty. Shouldn't you at least give him a trial, as is fair –?"

"Captain, you are not my advisor," Zelda shot back. "I have made my decision to protect my people and Link will be executed tonight, so that this country can be safe." Regal parted his lips to speak again but then, seemingly deciding against it, he closed his mouth. "Is that all?"

"…Yes, Your Highness."

"Then you can leave."

Silently the captain got to his feet and, placing a fist over his heart, bowed cordially. "As you wish." Without another word he turned and left, his red cape whirling with him, and he slipped by the guard that had escorted him in. Just as the lower-ranking officer made to follow him Alexandria called for his attention and, hesitantly, he turned to look at her. Before she spoke another word however, she stared over the man's head and into the corridor beyond the double-doors, waiting for Regal's footsteps to die away.

"He is working for Zelda," Alexandria said as soon as she could no longer hear the captain's distancing footsteps. "Send someone to tail him, and have them report back to me if he's found to be doing something suspicious."

Delivering a quick salute the guard took off down the hall to fulfill the order, leaving Alexandria in her privacy once more. Once his boots, too, had pounded themselves into silence, Princess Zelda's face melted away to reveal the imposter's true features, which were drawn with a firm but somewhat worried frown.

* * *

"Well?"

"It is as you said. She doesn't even recall the order."

"Do you believe me now, then?"

A pause.

"Perhaps more than I did before. But this is all still difficult to believe." Regal folded his arms and leaned against the wall beside the open doorway that led to one of the castle courtyards, his dark eyes fixated on the ground. The being he was conversing with shifted on the other side of the wall, turning his head towards the doorway so that his voice could better carry to Regal's ears.

"You don't trust me?"

"I don't feel I should trust her, either," Regal said quietly, wrinkles of concern beginning to form on his forehead. "Things within the castle are suddenly becoming so strange." The man he was speaking to did not reply. "But I have one more question: you claim that the princess within the castle is an imposter. Even if she is, how do you plan on exposing her?"

"…I don't."

Regal raised his eyebrows and lifted his eyes, turning his head towards the doorway. "Then what are you going to do?"

"I have to admit that she's a smart woman," the stranger continued, "and so I don't think it'd be easy to get her to show her true self so easily. I also don't know where her accomplices are."

"You mean those men you mentioned. Tentra and…Malbex, was it?"

"Yes." The man turned away from the doorway to view the courtyard, watching the water of the stone fountain reflect the sunset's light. "But I still want to go with the first part of the plan before we try anything else. After all, the man is innocent." He fell silent then, listening to the calming, nostalgic burble of the fountain.

"It's almost time, you know," he pointed out a moment later. "And we both want the same thing. So now I ask you: do we have your support?"

Regal looked away from the doorway to view the stone passage that he stood in, contemplating the consequences of either answer he could give to the inquiry. Considering one his lips parted, but then locked shut. Everything this man had told him seemed so unbelievable.

He said that the Princess Zelda he had seen upstairs was a fraud.

But what if she was not and this stranger was just trying to get someone to help remove the woman from the throne?

But what if she was a fraud? That would mean that siding with her would lead to the death of a man he knew to be innocent. After that, there was no telling what the supposed imposter would do with the country.

He let out his breath quietly.

"I understand if this is hard to wrap your mind around," the man on the wall's opposing side said, shocking the captain back to reality. "But whatever choice you make, I propose you choose wisely."

An abrupt sense of solitude then seized the captain's mind. Curious as to the reason he pushed off the wall and stood in the doorway, squinting in the bright rays of dusk as he peered into the courtyard.

There was no one there.


	60. Chapter 59

**Chapter Fifty-Nine**

"It's getting really late." Mekial bumped his back into the plaza's column and slid to the ground, one knee up while his other leg stuck out in front of him. "Why is Sheik taking so long?" He freed a hand from his cloak and dug his finger into a space between the stones of the ground.

"I do not know," Dijonay replied, resting her back against the wall across from him and adjusting her hood's cloak to hide her face from the people.

Ever since her, Sheik and Mekial's intrusion on the castle, guards had been on the lookout and wanted posters of them had been hung around the city. Though posters announcing Link's execution outnumbered them, Sheik still had to pay one of the city innkeepers extra rupees in order to keep their presence a secret. "But he said to wait here until he returns."

Mekial hummed thoughtfully and with a burst of magic he dug his fingertip even deeper into the soil and then lifted it out, a tendril of solidified dirt leading from it to the small new hole in the ground.

"Mekial, you'll give yourself away!" Dijonay hissed and instantly he dropped the soil and rubbed dirt from his finger onto his cloak.

"Think Captain Regal will help us?" he asked a while later, peering around the pillar to look into the twilit plaza. There seemed to be more people than earlier.

"I do not know," Dijonay said again, adjusting her cloak against a light wind. It was colder since she was in the shade of the structure that encircled the city's center. "But I hope that he does. I cannot say what we will be going up against tonight. We could use the extra help."

Mekial nodded faintly and figuring that the conversation was over, Dijonay diverted her gaze to the archway leading to the castle. Sheik had gone in there with Captain Regal what felt like hours ago.

She, Mekial and Sheik had run into the captain the previous afternoon while walking through the western roads. Like them he believed that Link was innocent, and soon after learning that he had had no luck with getting into the castle to testify this to the princess, Sheik had offered to take him into the castle himself.

Both Dijonay and Mekial had immediately objected, reminding him that they were wanted for intruding on the place. But Sheik had assured them that he would be fine, and then had turned to the captain and explained that they, too, wished for Link's freedom.

Later, Dijonay and Mekial had ventured ahead to look at some penned goats by the city's western gates, their childish curiosity having bested them. After reaching out to pet one Dijonay had looked back at the two men who were now half a street behind her, seeing that Sheik was once more speaking to the captain. With every word he said, a darker shadow seemed to shroud Regal's bearded face.

Still now she wondered what Sheik had told him. When interrogating him, all Sheik had said was that he and Regal were to be heading into the castle the next evening.

Then, before the two had left that present day to carry out their plan, Sheik had instructed she and her guard to wait in the square with everything that they would need, but to make sure that they were not seen.

For getting arrested was the last thing they needed.

And so Dijonay and Mekial had waited, the items that they needed successfully hidden in their cloaks and their faces shadowed by hoods. More than once patrol officers had passed, forcing them to hurriedly turn their faces away. When they were not hiding from guards they were hiding from citizens that drew too close and, at some point, someone slipped a red rupee into Mekial's hand. Staring at the shining gem, he wondered what he could have done to deserve it before shoving it into his pocket.

Once, Dijonay considered starting some sort of small talk with her bodyguard while they waited for Sheik and Captain Regal to return. But upon remembering that he had been mostly ignoring her these past few days and only speaking to her when it proved to be absolutely necessary, she decided against it. She could not blame him for hating what she had done.

If she had been in his place, she probably would have done the same.

So the two sat in a thick silence. Distantly, Dijonay stared up at the sky in the hopes of escaping the discomfort, which was abruptly broken when she suddenly registered numerous, loud voices.

Mekial, too, had noticed the volume increase and looked around the pillar again. His eyes widened when he saw the amount of people in the square. "What the? It's getting late. The square's never this full around this time."

"Yes." Dijonay stood and drew nearer to the large mass of citizens. "But perhaps…"

She let the incomplete thought hang in the air and with her thin eyebrows furrowing she examined the crowd, noticing how, though there were much more townsfolk than before, their behavior had not changed.

Thus thinking that the sudden gathering was nothing to worry about the girl made to move back to her seat but halted when a fresh roar thundered from the colossal group, quaking the earth and tearing through the once tranquil, late evening air.

Mekial shot to his feet to find the reason, then hopped up and down in order to peer over the citizens' heads, which were all facing the archway. Dijonay, too, followed their gazes, craning her neck until she had a small view of the arch.

A flood of Hyrulean soldiers were emerging from beyond the structure, all of them lined up in formation with lances pointed towards the sky. Horsemen flanked their sides, and then broke ranks to tame the crowd. As they did this, Mekial studied one of them closely, and then gaped.

"Th-that's Captain Regal!"

"Where?" Dijonay followed Mekial's pointing finger. "B-but why is he –" She cut off when a rather elegant carriage rolled out from the arch after the officers, lead by a pair of majestic, white horses. Soldiers and horsemen parted the crowd for the wagon, holding them off to the side to allow it passage.

Ducking and bouncing on her toes Dijonay attempted to get a good look at the vehicle, hoping to catch some glimpse of who was inside – but the curtains were drawn shut. Barely had a sound of disappointment escaped her lips before the cheering crowd roared with new fervor and she again turned her head towards the arch.

Horses were striding into the square, their heads bowed as they tugged on the weight of their luggage; and then came their reins, leading to the object they hauled like a pointing finger.

Then the sun blinked against a shackle and Link appeared, chained to the platform that the horses were wheeling out into the plaza.

Dijonay's heart almost stopped: he looked so disheveled and tired and even in the fiery sunlight he looked rather pale. She covered her mouth. _She_ had done this to him –

As the crowd hollered and glowered up at the Hylian, Mekial jumped beside her and she quickly grabbed his shoulder upon seeing what he was looking at: Renée was the next to be exposed to the sun, squinting in the bright light and bouncing subtly as the stage bumped over the cobblestone street.

She, too, looked unkempt from her time in the dungeons and Dijonay's heart sank. Dread filled her even more when Brent was drawn out and, finally, Katrina.

The wooden platform was raised high enough for the townspeople to be unable to reach it, thus granting the prisoners safe passage across the square. Still the citizens shouted, bellowing the names of those that had supposedly been killed in the rebellion and hurling trash and other undesirable items at the offenders.

Dijonay tore her eyes away from the pitiful sight to scan over the crowd, searching for any sign of Sheik approaching. Seeing all faces turned towards the open-air vehicle she directed her eyes back to Captain Regal, who was now riding beside the horse carriage as other foot soldiers moved to hold the crowd back.

Setting her jaw, the girl reached into a pocket of her cloak and drew out a pair of small, spherical objects. Pressing a button on each of them, she rolled them into the crowd before diving in herself.

"Dijonay!" Mekial groped for the fabric of her coat only to grasp at thin air. Passing a fleeting look at the procession, he quickly squeezed into the throng after her.

Up on the wheeled platform Renée stared at the crowd, her shoulders slumped and shadows of fatigue darkening the skin beneath her eyes.

_How ironic._

She had done everything back in Arkania: freeing Hylians and raiding Thrall Cell caravans up until she had raided the Thrall Cell itself. Even though she had participated in those acts she had never been arrested – but now here she was in Hyrule, nothing more than an innocent visitor forced to ride a wheeled platform out to her death for a crime she had not been a part of.

She turned her head away and stared down at her shackled wrists, the chains linked to them connected to a metal loop in the floor directly beside her.

The platform bounced over a large stone, causing Link's chains to tinkle. With his hands bound like this, it seemed almost impossible to find a way of escaping. And no matter how hard he thought he could not come up with some sort of plan.

For a second he thought that Brent might have an idea but quickly figured that he probably did not: having been chained in a small jail cell for as long as he had the blue-haired Hylian had seemed panicked and restless, just as he had been in the attic back in Arkania.

Link was beginning to assume that the young man was claustrophobic. If so, being in the castle dungeons must have been harder on him than it had been on the others. Regret washed over him at that moment.

He should have never allowed Brent or anyone else to accompany him to Hyrule. If he had done so, none of them would be in this predicament.

But then again, he had not even seen this coming. If he had, he would have avoided the city himself.

With a sudden clatter of chains he tugged on his shackles as a rock flew up at him, threatening to smash his nose. He ducked successfully, only to have the upper half of his body lunge to the side when the platform suddenly stopped.

Confused, he looked up to find that the brown horses guiding the platform had halted right behind the carriage that Princess Zelda was riding in. The animals snorted and flicked their tails, and Link's gaze was drawn back to the crowd, whose eyes were now looking around, also wondering what was occurring.

What they could not see was that the soldier in the royal carriage's driving seat had tugged on the reins so as to not drive over a lone and cloaked figure that stood in the center of the road, blocking their way to the gallows beyond the southern streets.

"Get out of the way!" the driver shouted over the booing crowd, waving his arm to the side. "Someone! Get them out of here!"

"No!" Dijonay took a step forward, her dark cloak hiding the way her body trembled. "You will not take them any further!"

"I'm going to ask you again!" the soldier retorted as another officer moved to grab her. "Move out of the way!"

"N-no!" The second guard marched towards her, a frown visible beneath the shadow of his helmet. "No, do not –"

She cut off with a yelp when the earth jumped and stalagmite erupted from the ground beneath the soldier, launching him skyward. Flailing and shouting, the man soared into the air before crashing in a clank-y, metal heap somewhere in the midst of the crowd. Some people gasped while others looked around, trying to find what had caused the sudden rock to appear.

Dijonay stepped away from the stony object in front of her, tripped over an uneven stone and fell to the ground, and her hood slid off her head.

"Hey…it's that girl!" someone shouted after quickly studying her face. "The girl from the wanted poster!"

As other voices chimed in agreement Dijonay quickly scrambled to her feet and swept the crowd with her eyes, spotting the forms of more soldiers dislodging from the crowd's edge to approach her. Backing away, she clenched her teeth.

Somewhere from her blind side another being crept forth, then burst from the crowd in her direction. Barely was she given time to react before the man skidded to a halt in front of her, swinging out an arm and releasing a silver rain of needles.

Soldiers gasped and grunted when the projectiles crashed into their exposed skin and some fell to their knees. Others staggered when the ground shook and then cried out as columns of rock fired them into the air, where gravity wrenched them back down. Some people shouted while others watched, transfixed and in immeasurable awe.

Then with a bone chilling hiss smoke exploded into being, spurting out of the crowd's depths with the force of a volcanic eruption. Great, snaky, grey tentacles twisted into the sky and knit through the crowd, obscuring everything behind a curtain of thick smog. As it broadened a strange odor filled the air, causing eyes to water and throats to burn. Noses were plugged and voices shouted as the people scattered, crashing into each other as they hunted through the thickening vapor for an escape route.

Dijonay replaced the hood on her head and raised the scarf that had been wrapped around her neck over her nose and mouth. The man in front of her reeled to face her, his red eyes spotted behind fringes of blonde hair.

"Are you all right?" Sheik called over the din. Dijonay nodded. When he had not shown up in front of the wagon to stall it while the stink and smoke bombs' timers ticked, she had feared that Regal had turned him in. "Good! Follow the plan!"

Nodding again she dodged into the chaotic crowd, bumping shoulders and stumbling forward before a small being suddenly crashed into her, grabbed her arm and guided her through the scrambling citizens.

Recognizing the size of the person, Dijonay addressed him, "Mekial! The stalagmites – was that you?"

"I'm your bodyguard, aren't I?" the boy shouted over his shoulder.

Regal's horse neighed wildly as the panicking townsmen darted about, shaking its head and knocking people over. Without regard to this the captain dismounted, drew some rags from his pocket and shoved his way towards the fountain.

Once there he dunked the cloths into it, twisted them to release excess water and slapped one across his nose and mouth to block out the terrible smell. He then shouldered his way back towards the platform and climbed atop it, where he was greeted by the chokes and coughs of the so-called criminals.

He reached for his belt and unhooked a pair of keys from it and stuffed one into the lock of the shackles that bound Link's wrists. As soon as his hands had fallen free Regal pushed one of the wet rags into them.

"Wear it!" he roared and Link did so, suddenly recognizing the man's face.

"Captain –!"

He stopped when two more figures leaped onto the platform and watched as their hazy silhouettes took on the forms of Mekial and Dijonay. Each of them took some rags from the captain and moved to hold them over the faces of their allies; moving as quickly as possible, the captain went around and unlocked their shackles.

Once freed and their faces covered, Regal led them all off of the platform and towards the nearest series of back roads, constantly glancing over his shoulder to ensure that the group was still behind him. Upon reaching an alley he stopped and held his arm out to it, ushering the others inside before him.

Even as he did so he spotted a small platoon of soldiers rushing towards them, lances at the ready as they stumbled through the fog towards the escapees. Regal reached for the hilt of his sword in anticipation but just as the blade proved visible something cracked noisily and a bright flash ensued, leaving the soldiers dazed with blindness.

Stunned, Regal barely noticed a hand seize his shoulder and a voice shout, "Come on!"

It was Sheik.

But when Regal looked away from him his dark eyes caught the forms of reinforcements hurrying to aid their disoriented allies, and he stepped away from the alley.

"You go!" he thundered. "I'll hold them off!" Sheik looked from the captain to the small army advancing and, when he made no objection, Regal assumed that he had consented.

With the soldier blocking the back street Sheik dashed into it, descending a small, lumpy hill road before making a sharp turn onto another path. Here the smoke that filled the plaza stretched to lay itself as a thin curtain and the screaming of the citizens began to die away. Partway down the next street he finally met up with the rest of the group.

"Where's the captain?" Dijonay had gasped when seeing Sheik coming by himself, and the others waited for his reply.

"Buying us time." Sheik did not let her voice another word, instead urging everyone down the road and towards the nearest exit.

"Find them!" Zelda roared at her soldiers, hacking and choking on the rancid air that suffocated her. "I want them alive! G-get them – _cough_ – all of them –!"

A soldier burst from the smoke at her side, intending to help her back into the carriage and, shoving him away, she marched forward, waving an arm to swat away the vapor in the hopes of seeing what was ahead of her. Repeatedly a citizen jumped out from somewhere, rushing for shelter and irritating Alexandria down to her last nerve.

She had almost had him.

_Almost…_

But almost would not be good enough for him.

Already she could imagine what he would say when he found out about this, his red eyes narrowing with fury –

Zelda gasped and fell over when the fog broke, allowing a pair of dark red eyes to glare down at her. Her own eyes wide she inched back, scraping her heels against the stony ground and clawing behind her for something to protect herself with. But there was nothing there and with every backward movement she made, the eyes moved closer.

"I gave you one thing to do; everything was practically set up for you." The sound of boots quietly thumping against the ground came to Alexandria's ears and she stopped her retreat; simultaneously, they stopped their advance.

Then Malbex took another step forward, emerging from the mist that still managed to hide some parts of him, making him appear ghost-like. Alexandria choked on a gasp but still did not move, petrified by his stern, penetrating gaze.

But as his pale face stared down at her, she suddenly became aware of the fact that he did not look livid at all. Instead, he appeared somewhat disappointed.

But this did not ease her worries.

"Is this how you handle things that are so easily put together for you?"

Alexandria pumped her jaw, but no words came out.

Malbex raised a hand and snapped a finger.

Instantly a thread of black smoke appeared beside him, twirling and spiraling in and around itself until it increased in size to take on the form of a Shadow. The creature growled quietly and its black eye sockets fell to Zelda's alarmed face. Its hand twitched.

"I admit that you've done good so far." Malbex waved a hand and a transparent sphere appeared over his palm, its smoky insides swirling. "But not good enough." His blood-red eyes moved from Alexandria to the Seeker, and he watched the image that it portrayed closely. Only a second later, his silver eyebrows drew into an inquisitive frown.

Flexing his fingertips, he commanded the Seeker to zoom in on something that it showed, which he examined shortly before a small smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "Luckily for you, this has suddenly proved to be easily fixable."

He held the Seeker out to the Shadow, and the beast diverted its eyes from Alexandria to look at it, its black eyes peering at the face it displayed.

"Bring her to me," he demanded. "Alive."

The monster vanished in a familiar wisp of dark smoke and Malbex clenched a fist, causing the Seeker to dissolve away. He then turned to view the plaza, which had by now been emptied of people. The earlier stench was fading and the fog was beginning to lift, revealing the remnants of trash, as well as the royal carriage and platform that the criminals had once been on.

Averting his eyes the Fenri walked away, his feet carrying him towards the archway that led back to Hyrule Castle. After looking from him to the deserted square Alexandria leaped to her feet and followed him, close enough to see that the eerie smile was still glued to his face.


	61. Chapter 60

**Chapter Sixty**

Panting, Sheik burst into an inconspicuous cavern with Dijonay, Mekial and the group of ex-prisoners right behind him. Dusk's light was beginning to fade as night drew closer, casting a faint orange glow in the cavern and across the grasslands outside. Even from within the cave a few Holes could be seen scattered across the grassy landscape, varying in size, and the distant towers of Hyrule Castle were just barely seen poking over the hills.

Quietly, everyone scattered throughout the small cave, taking a moment to catch their breath before speaking. Katrina gathered hers first.

"What…took you guys so long?" she gasped, looking between Dijonay and Mekial. "Do you know how filthy those dungeons are?"

"We are sorry for your suffering," Dijonay replied remorsefully. "Mekial and I had attempted to rescue you all earlier but had failed terribly. Without the help of Sheik" – she gestured to him – "and Captain Regal, we would have never saved you."

"Yeah, we lucked out," Mekial agreed. "We met Sheik while we were in the castle, trying to get to the dungeons. But when that failed we went back to the capital to come up with a different idea. We ran into Captain Regal there."

"And he stayed behind for us, huh?" Brent sagged onto a rock. "We definitely owe him one. And you guys, too." He looked to Dijonay, Sheik and Mekial. "We'd be hanging from a noose if it wasn't for you guys."

"Thanks a ton," Renée said gratefully, but Dijonay turned her face away in shame.

"Yeah," Link agreed, "but what was with the smoke?" Mekial shrugged.

"Just some smoke bombs and stink bombs from a prank store," he said. "Pretty handy, actually. Worked as a good distraction."

"A smelly one," Renée muttered. "But a good one, I'll admit."

Mekial beamed and, unable to contain his relief any longer, threw his arms around his sister in an embrace.

"While I'm glad that you're all reunited, there are some things we need to discuss." Everyone's head turned to face Sheik, who had taken to standing further in the cave. "But, before I begin, you may be wanting these back." He unstrapped a pouch wrapped around his waist and undid its buckle, then flipped it over and shook it to release an assortment of weapons: Link's sword and shield, Brent's Bo staff, Renée's sword and dagger and Katrina's knives, bow and quiver.

Brent stared down at his item before lifting his eyes to the tiny bag.

"What in the…"

"How did you get these?" Renée scooped up her belongings and proceeded to re-equip them. "How did you even know they were ours?"

"He had gone into the castle with Captain Regal earlier, to help the captain plead Link's case," Dijonay informed her. "I had asked if it would be possible for him to grab them while he was there; I had figured that they were taken away from you, and knew that you would need them back. Is that why you were late?" she asked Sheik, who nodded. She then looked at the bag that he was carrying. "I believe that is Link's."

Wordlessly, Sheik tossed the bag to him.

"What the heck is that thing made of, anyway?" Brent asked, picking up his staff and looking from it to the pouch.

"I really don't know." Link strapped the bag to his belt. "It's really convenient, though."

"Well, could you stuff a horse and wagon in there? 'Cause that'd be even more convenient."

Sheik regarded everyone beneath stoic eyes as they adjusted their weaponry. Mekial also watched quietly, following their hands as they adjusted belts and straps and his mind wondering what it would be like to have such things as his own.

His curious brown eyes doubled back to Link's left hand as the Hylian fixed a buckle, which, for what seemed like the first time, was ungloved. By light of the darkening sunset he noticed a peculiar, triangular mark printed across his pale skin.

"Link." Even as the young man turned to look at him, Mekial's eyes remained firmly fixed on his hand. Link followed his eyes and sucked in his breath. "Nice birthmark."

The boy smiled and Link's heart unclenched. Unbeknownst to him, Renée and Brent had stolen a look at his hand, and both frowned inquisitively. Sheik, too, glanced at it, though gave no reaction.

"There's something that I'd originally set out to tell you, Link," he said, "which was why I helped rescue you. Much of what I have to say is something that Princess Zelda would want you to hear as well."

"The princess?" Link echoed, granting his full attention to the red-eyed man. "What could she possibly want to tell me after wanting me to die for the past three days?"

Sheik was silent for a moment. "I'll remind you again that what I have to tell you was meant for you. Should everyone else here be getting involved?"

"We're pretty much involved," Brent assured, reseating himself on a rock and leaning his staff against the wall beside him. "Trust me."

"He's right," Link said. "Anything you have to say to me, you can say to them."

Sheik looked over the faces of the foreigners. "Very well. Then I'll warn you all that what I have to say may come as a shock to you. For one, things within the castle have been going through some changes, and strange things have been happening. As a result, you were sentenced to die. But, contrary to your beliefs, Princess Zelda never desired your deaths."

"I beg to differ," Brent interrupted humorlessly and Sheik looked at him, acknowledging his recent experience.

"Then, allow me to start at the beginning," he said, unfolding his once crossed arms and looking over everyone. "A few months ago, during the early fall, a woman named Alexandria Ruheart was found to be impersonating the princess and was arrested. But, on the day of her trial she escaped."

Something flashed in Link's eyes. "I think I remember that: soldiers were asking for her in a town I was passing through." His memory dragged him back to that time, when he had been heading to the Gerudo Mesa in pursuit of Telma. "She seemed like she was a big threat."

"She was," Sheik confirmed, "and only a couple months later returned to the castle under a different disguise, this time as an ambassador from Lumbrea named Aleen Vitel. Only the day after her arrival at the castle was she found to be Alexandria, and this time she had brought an accomplice with her, whom called himself Tentra."

Brent frowned. "If it turned out she was Alexandria, then why wasn't she arrested again?"

"Sadly, the soldiers of Hyrule have lost their edge in the past year," Sheik answered, "and had already betrayed the princess, and the country, by choosing to aid Alexandria and Tentra long before Zelda found out.

"Tentra was also in the castle disguised as Link," Sheik added, "and so Link was also accused of betraying the princess."

Link's body stiffened and a subdued fire seemed to burn in his feral eyes.

"Link, betraying the princess?" Renée repeated quizzically. "How?"

"I was under orders of the princess when I went to Arkania," Link replied, forcing anger out of his voice. "That man must have taken advantage of my not being nearby and then…"

_Disguised himself as me._

Could Tentra be the one that had been impersonating Link this entire time? The one who had framed him as leader of the Soldier's Rebellion and of the Isle Massacre?

These same thoughts flitted through Katrina's mind, leading her to look at Link fleetingly. If Tentra really had been impersonating Link this entire time, then she had been deceived.

Just the thought alone made her body numb. It was actually possible that she had been chasing the wrong man this entire time.

Hating the wrong man this entire time.

"Tentra met with the Hyrulean generals," Sheik went on, "and attempted to make them side with him as well. But they refused and imprisoned both he and Alexandria. After this, Princess Zelda left the castle."

" 'Left the castle'?" Link echoed, his eyes widening. "But what about the Zelda that we saw only a few days ago –?"

"Nothing more than a fraud," Sheik cut in coldly. "She's not the princess. Actually, it's the same woman that this all began with."

"You mean…Alexandria again?"

"Who is this woman?" Dijonay demanded, her brow furrowing. "How is she able to disguise herself as so many people?"

"I don't know," Sheik responded quietly. "But she's not from Hyrule, nor any other country that I know of. But I do know who she and Tentra are said to be working for." He paused briefly, finally recalling where he had first heard the evildoer's name: he had been walking through the castle when a soldier had come up to him, claiming that the soldiers were somehow associated with this foreigner. "A prince. Named Malbex."

Dijonay's voice lodged itself in her throat and she squeaked pitifully while her allies stiffened and stared at the informant.

"But why would he do that?" Mekial piped up. "What would getting the military on his side do?"

"We can assume that he's just another power-crazy fool that wants to take over some territory," Sheik offered, "but according to the generals, Tentra claimed that Prince Malbex is after the Triforce of Wisdom, carried within the body of the Hylian princess, Zelda. As for what he plans on doing with it…well, it can't be good."

"If he's after her piece of the Triforce," Link began slowly, drawing all eyes to him, "then that might explain why he's after the shards."

"This 'Triforce' thing," Renée said, raising a hand slightly, "isn't it that all-powerful thing the goddesses supposedly left in Hyrule, according to legends?"

"And it can grant one wish." Brent shrugged. "Apparently."

"Yes," Sheik nodded to confirm both of their statements. "And it's not a legend."

"So we've been told." Brent straightened up on the rock he had sat on when they had first arrived. "I'm guessing you know all about it?" Sheik nodded once again.

"The whole relic is a three piece set," he started to explain, "and, as you two guessed, it can grant a wish to anyone who gets all three parts."

"But it was split long ago in history, is that not right?" Dijonay put in. "And…Malbex told me that one piece was lost only a year ago because its owner had died, and it split into four shards." At this, Sheik's eyes grew large.

"You've _spoken_ to Malbex?"

"Y-yes," the prime minister stammered, flustered by the new attention she was receiving from the once impassive man. "B-back home… One of the shards was hidden in my country's territory, and so I suppose he wanted my help in finding it. He…also wanted me to find Link, who he somehow knew to be coming to the country, and to hold onto him for him while he went to find the shard."

"…What country was this?" Sheik inquired, now looking away from her.

"Arkania," Dijonay answered. "Far from here: across the Great Sea."

"…I see." Sheik stared at the ground, lost in thought, while Link stared at her for a second longer. Did this mean that Malbex was somehow capable of finding out what all of them were up to? Even at that very moment? He glanced about the cave, as though to find a pair of mysterious eyes glaring at them, but brought his attention back to the discussion when Sheik's voice sounded. "Then we can easily assume that he is in fact after all three of the Triforce's pieces. And you said that one of them is now broken."

"That's right," Link spoke up. "We've already got two of them now, and we were intending to go and get the next one, which should be south of here." He added his last statement after shortly peering out of the cave to assure himself that they were in the southern province of the country, which made them that much closer to the 'ancient forest'. "Hopefully, we can keep Malbex from getting all of the shards."

"I see…a wise plan." Sheik turned his eyes from Link's face to the visage of his companions. It seemed like the Hylian had grown much in the time that he had been outside of the country, gathering new allies and learning new information about the events happening within his homeland. But in the end, Sheik was glad he had sent Link out to find the bartender: at least now the country's hero was at work again, protecting the people. And that was exactly what Sheik needed from him.

It was here, outside the castle and racing a foreign prince in finding a most powerful and destructive item that Link was needed the most. And back at the castle, regaining control of his beloved home was where Sheik needed to be.

But he could not do such a thing by himself, especially since his own soldiers had turned against him, which left him almost completely powerless. He could not enlist Link's aid, and there was no one nearby that could help him.

For a moment Sheik found himself at a loss: none of the countries allied with Hyrule could help, especially since most of them were dealing with strange occurrences of their own. A war was almost imminent between them all.

It almost seemed hopeless.

He raised his eyes to the cave exit, letting them wander across the fiery horizon before stopping on a distant, northern mountain.

_Northern…_

That was it.

"Sheik." Dijonay's voice penetrated his thoughts and he turned to look at her. "Will you help us in finding the shards? After all, you did help us with saving everyone. You have already proved yourself to be a very helpful ally."

"Not to mention strangely knowledgeable," Katrina added, eying Sheik suspiciously.

"…I would help you in this search for the shards because I also share your goal of stopping Malbex." Sheik walked towards the mouth of the cave then turned back to the group, the dimming sun's light glowing around his silhouette. The red of his eyes seemed to stand out more, and for a second Katrina thought that they were fixed on her, as though to challenge her suspicions again. She stood her ground and glared back at him. "But there's something else that I have to do."

"Something else?" Dijonay echoed, and something in her mind clicked, laying panic across her face. "S-surely you don't mean back at the castle –?"

"No, not at the castle," Sheik reassured her, and turned away slightly to gaze back out into the fields of Faron Province. "Further." Dijonay paused inquisitively. "We'll probably be seeing each other again soon," the man continued. "But until then…" He looked back, searching for Link's face. "At least Zelda knows you're safe."

Then before anyone could speak his hand whipped out, clutching a familiar brown nut. Recognizing it Dijonay lunged to stop him, only to halt in her tracks and blink furiously when the seed crashed down, releasing an explosion of white light.

When the spots dulling their vision had disappeared, Sheik was nowhere to be seen.

"Well he was vague," Brent commented, rubbing his eyes to refresh his sight. "Where could he have gone?"

"It depends on the place he marked…" Dijonay whispered softly, staring out into the fields.

"Huh?"

"I don't like him." All heads turned to face Katrina as she stood from the corner she was seated in. "Doesn't anyone else find how much he knew to be weird? And you all were just talking to him like you trusted him! How do we know he's not out to get us, or that he's another ally of that Alexandria and Tentra?"

"I trust him," Dijonay said in Sheik's defense.

"And how old are you, fourteen?" Katrina snapped. "He told us practically everything we need to know –"

"Is that so bad?" Dijonay cut in, but Katrina spoke over her.

"– talking about it like he was there! How do we know he wasn't? How do we know that Malbex didn't just tell him to save us so he can gain our trust only to stab us in the back? How do we know that the entire execution thing wasn't just some kind of set up?"

Dijonay worked her jaw, struggling to find the right words to respond with.

"You have a point," Brent acknowledged when the young ruler remained silent. "It was weird, how much he knew. But if he's on our side or not, we should keep what he said in mind. After all, it might be true." He stood from his rock chair. "Being suspicious is a good thing, Katrina. But what with everything that's going on now, we hardly have any information to go by. We should take what he told us into consideration, at least until we find out some things on our own."

"Good idea," Link said while Katrina drew her eyes away with a huff. "But if we do see him again, we'll just need to keep our guard up. In any case, we should get going." He approached the cave opening and stood where Sheik had once been. "The quicker we get to the next shard the better. We can stop at my place to rest before we head out. It can't be too far from here."

"Right before he left…" Link turned back to the cave, searching the dimness for Renée's face. Once he had found her, she spoke again. "Right before he left he said that at least Princess Zelda knows we're safe. But he didn't even call her 'princess' – almost like he was close to her. What could he have meant?"

"I don't know," Link replied truthfully. "But maybe we'll run into him again, and he can explain himself better." Renée's eyebrows creased and she turned her eyes to the hills, watching as the last of the sun disappeared behind them to allow the stars kingship.

As Link marched out of the cave she tore her eyes from the landscape to follow him along with the others. While rounding the rocky mountainside that hid the cave from the widespread field, her eyes dropped to the grass-infested path, only to snag onto the triangular mark on Link's left hand. She turned her eyes back to the plains.

It couldn't be a coincidence.

* * *

Sprinting away from the tree he had marked and along the dirt trail that wound through the province, Sheik wondered why he had never thought of this plan before. It seemed so obvious.

While in the capital, he had overheard a conversation between two soldiers that had been standing in front of the ally leading to Telma's tavern. In hushed voices, they had spoken of the Soldier's Rebellion, and how the soldiers and generals that had managed to escape the city were rumored to have gone north, to the mountain region beyond the Zora people. Their numbers were uncertain, as was what their plans were.

But such things did not deter Sheik's hopes. If he could make it to the northern region, perhaps he would be able to find the soldiers and request their aid in retaking the castle. Such a mission was probably one that they were planning themselves he figured, and if he were lucky they would already have a plan of attack by the time he reached them.

However, journeying to such a faraway place would take too much time by foot, and time was not something that he had. Who knew how fast Malbex was working: if anything, Sheik needed to gather up the last of his loyal forces and return to the castle to hopefully stall the man while Link searched for the remaining shards of Power.

Upon thinking of the shards, Sheik recalled the locations the Sages had claimed that they were in: a "city", the "mines", an "ancient forest" and the "peaks". Link had probably found the first one while he had been in Arkania, Sheik figured, and he was now heading towards the one in the forest. He also had two of the shards already, making him two steps ahead of Malbex. Sheik could only hope that the Hylian would be able to advance another.

After dashing another few miles down the road, Sheik's lungs heaved and he paused for breath at the crown of a hill, taking this moment to look over the starlit grasslands in order to spot a path that would take him to a nearby community. His eyes panned to the right and stopped on the road that led into Eldin Province and, for a moment, he considered taking it in order to get to Kakariko Village. Perhaps there he would be able to stop for lodging and even be able to borrow a horse for the rest of his journey.

But this idea was tossed aside when, between a cluster of trees, he spotted a Hole just beyond the bridge that spanned across Kakariko Gorge. With an obstacle like that, gaining access to the village would be impossible.

As such Sheik turned his eyes away, allowing his gaze to hunt across the darkening skyline for any other roads. Briefly he examined some that popped out at him but knew them to run nowhere near any kind of civilization. Thus he was forced to search for just a bit longer, until he finally spotted a ravine further ahead. As he stared at it, he soon recollected that it crept uphill slightly, towards the village of Rivet.

Choosing this path Sheik took a step down the hillside and with a start pivoted to look behind him, his skin crawling. His eyes jumped and darted about the fields, stopping short on the heads of nearby trees and bushes as if something were lurking there, waiting to leap out at him. But the longer he stared the quieter everything became, until his ears began to ring.

Eying the area warily for another second, Sheik turned and continued down the hill, keeping his eyes fixed on the narrow passage up ahead. Just as he reached the bottom a chill shot up his spine and he whirled around once more, only to be greeted by nothing but the empty field yet again.

The man slid a hand down into the pouch strapped around his thigh and loaded it with needles before turning to make a break for the ravine. With his armed hand poised in defense, he hastened towards the narrow valley and slipped into it, his feet sinking into the muddy bank of the river that ran inside of it.

Cautiously, Sheik slid his eyes back over his shoulder and then turned back to the valley, but did not lower his weapons. Silently, he hiked up the hill the riverbank followed, stars glittering down into their reflections in the calm water beside him. He turned his eyes to look down at his own image as he walked, and suddenly realized how different he looked in comparison to his other self. It was almost frightening, and he waved a hand as though to make sure that it was really him.

As his mirrored face waved back a black object grew behind him, causing the shadows on the ravine's rocky face to enlarge. Sheik dropped his hand and turned to look behind him for the umpteenth time, checking if what he was seeing was real or just a result of the distorted waves.

His heart shot to his throat when a black, hooded skull emerged from the darkness to sneer back at him, its dark and hollow eyes boring into his and a gangly hand stretching forward.

With a gasp Sheik fell back, needles plopping into the mud and his body nearing the pebble-filled riverbed.

But before the splash could come the dark creature dove forward, its cloak spreading like wings and its arms wide as though to embrace. Black mist obscured the sky and pressed against Sheik's chest, curling around his body and darkening his vision, his senses, his thoughts.

And he could barely breathe: it took all of his focus to tell his lungs to expand and suck in the amount of air he needed to remain conscious. But as the darkness grew thicker, blacking out everything to the point of nothingness, the air seemed to thin.

Every breath became shallower than the last and his mind reeled in panic. Pressure squeezed his sides and he choked on a cough then made to inhale, only to release a gasping wheeze. His throat burned and his heart began to pump wildly, giving him enough strength to make an attempt at escaping the entanglement of darkness.

But no matter what order his mind gave, his limbs remained stiff as if they had been shot with poison. He sucked in an amount of air that would have pained most and craved for more – his eyes reddened and watered and his heart banged against his ribs, screaming for escape.

Then all at once the suffocation was peeled away: the shadows receded and air rammed into him from all sides, flying up his nostrils and filling his lungs to overflowing. Just as he was about to choke he crashed against a hard floor and his body tumbled out of control, rolling and sliding against a smooth surface until bounding and landing on a carpet.

His own hacks and shuddering gasps overpowered the noise of advancing feet and clanking metal and he was still struggling for composure by the time a pair of men reached him, ripping his coughing self from the ground and pulling his arms behind him.

Wheezing, Sheik looked around through blurry eyes as something rough and scratchy was tied around his wrists and only a split second later he recognized it as rope. His body shivered and he let out a wheezing cough again, bowing his head and staring at the red carpet beneath him.

Just as his shoulders began to move to find a loose hold in the thick ropes, a large hand grabbed the back of his skull and wrenched his head upwards, leading him to stare straight ahead. His watery vision slowly cleared and all at once he recognized the throne room of Hyrule Castle.

His red eyes shifted from one corner of the place to the next: it was just the same, with tall pillars pressing up against the high ceiling and a long, red carpet stretching from the gigantic entrance doors to the red seated throne at the other end. The large stone structure of the Triforce hung above the familiar chair, each of its triangular pieces squished beneath the figure of three stone women, their carved faces peering at different angles of the room.

Sheik's eyes then fell to the stairs leading to the throne and fixed themselves upon two people standing on either side of them: one was a woman and the other a man, both with long silver hair, pale skin and bright crimson eyes. Instantly he recognized them as Tentra and Alexandria.

His eyes then moved to a man that was walking in between them, dressed in a dark colored silk shirt and a cape, along with a pair of dark pants and tidy boots. Like the two behind him his skin was fairly pale and his hair was silver, though shorter, and his face was smooth and clear.

But what Sheik noticed the most was the ferocious and noticeable red of his slim eyes. His lips were also pulled into a smile as he strolled towards the bound man before him, the expression almost knowing – almost as though he could see through the man's ruse. Sheik swallowed.

"Well…" The man stopped mere feet away, smiling crookedly down at the man the Hyrulean soldiers kept on his knees by holding down his shoulders. "This is the one who so boldly took part in the interruption of our execution." Sheik fidgeted beneath the hands that held him, his red eyes narrowed. "But why, I wonder? Link is a murderer, after all. Didn't you hear what he did?"

"He's no murderer," Sheik growled defiantly, and then cried out as one of the soldiers gripped the back of his head and forced his face to the ground. Malbex tut quietly.

"It must have come as a shock to the people," he said, "when Link was suddenly rescued and allowed to roam again. Now they're all going to be rather afraid, don't you think? Afraid that the man they believed to be a killer is now running free throughout the country."

His crimson eyes lingered on Sheik as he paused, and then his knowing smile faded. "What kind of ruler would do that to her people?"

Sheik's heart stopped.

Malbex raised a hand and waved it to the side, releasing a heavy wave of magic. The soldiers staggered back, releasing their hold on Sheik who received the full blast of the spell and slid back, his turban flying off and his head lolling to the side with brown hair hiding his face. Malbex lowered his arm, his red eyes gleaming.

"Did you really think that you could hide yourself using a charm like that?" His smile was gone. "One that my people are so familiar with?" His victim groaned and shifted on the ground. "Maybe next time you should try something different –something just a bit more _creative_," he narrowed his eyes, "Princess Zelda."

Zelda coughed and rolled onto her side, curling into a ball before forcing herself into a sitting position. Her dark hair, knocked out of its braid by the force of Malbex's attack, draped across her face and parted just a bit as she raised her chin, allowing her dark blue eyes to glare up at him.

"Who are you?" she demanded quietly, lifting her head just a bit higher. The prince's eyes flickered at her tone.

"How rude of me," he said dryly as the soldiers moved forward to hold her down again. "I am Prince Malbex Zenor, of Eldonis – you might have heard of me."

Zelda's eyes narrowed dangerously and her bound hands squirmed. "Yes. I have."

"From your soldiers I'm guessing?" Malbex turned and retraced his steps back up the carpet towards the throne. When he spoke again, his voice resounded in the cavernous chamber, "You know, they're very reliable." Zelda's anger instantly flared.

"How dare you taunt me –!"

"Taunt you?" Malbex laughed. "I wouldn't do that. I'm merely giving you a compliment. But if you want me to taunt you..." He ascended the steps and sat himself in her throne, examining the carvings inlaid in its frame. He then looked back at the soldiers. "Let her up."

Obediently they stepped aside and stood back, averting shameful eyes as Zelda looked from one of them to the other, absolutely horrified.

"I told you." Her eyes darted back to Malbex. "They're very reliable."

Fury engulfed the princess' body, a righteous anger that she did not care for hiding from her face. "What do you want?" she burst, rising to her feet. "Stealing my soldiers, killing my countrymen – _what do you want_?!"

"Killing?" Malbex raised his eyebrows.

"Him!" Zelda thundered, stabbing Tentra with her gaze. "This man, disguising himself as one of my people and killing off innocent citizens – did you tell him to do that?"

Malbex's burning red eyes fell against Tentra. "I suppose he got carried away." Though he spoke calmly, venom filled his voice. Tentra shifted subtly. "Believe me, princess, I had no intentions of harming your people."

Zelda remained unconvinced.

"Don't believe me, I see…" Malbex rose from the chair and stepped away from it. "Then it looks like this game is over." He descended the stairs again, stopping just a couple feet away from the bottommost step. "Things aren't looking too good for you, princess: your people are scattered and angry, your allied countries are crumbling, your last loyal soldiers are gone…" Zelda tensed. "But I'm not here to just tell you all of this. In fact, I'm giving you the chance to fix it." He gestured to her throne. "To prove to everyone that you are in fact capable of ruling a nation, no matter how weak and destroyed it may appear to be."

Zelda stared at him, hesitant and confused.

"Don't you want to fix it? To save your people from it all, to be able to hold everything together…just like your predecessors?"

Zelda remained where she was, never releasing the foreigner's gaze. "…What do you want?"

Malbex smiled humorlessly. "Nothing."

Zelda watched him closely, waiting for him to unintentionally give something away. But the longer she looked at him, the more resolute he appeared.

He sincerely did not want anything from her.

"The clock is ticking, princess." Malbex rolled up one of his sleeves, revealing a clear crystal embedded in a golden bracelet. As it glowed, Alexandria and Tentra stepped away from their posts and stood behind him. "And your country isn't getting any better on its own."

He stretched his arm out in front of him and Zelda stiffened, only to start when the ropes binding her fell away from her hands. Bringing them to her front, the princess looked on as a bolt of blue lightning erupted from the stone on Malbex's wrist, darting and jumping until it tore a hole through the very fabric of space. Through this hole Malbex stepped, then Alexandria and finally Tentra, and then it closed up, leaving the hall silent as though it had never existed.

Zelda heard the two soldiers beside her shift uncertainly and her eyes snapped back to them, staring wide-eyed and still stunned from the recent event. But then her previous rage returned and her large eyes thinned in withering contempt.

"Leave," she ordered weakly. Hurriedly the two filed out of the room.

When they had gone, Zelda collapsed to her knees and held her head. Her eyes nestled on the stone goddesses in front of her, then her shoulders sagged and her chin fell, allowing her hair to blanket her visage once more.


	62. Chapter 61

**Chapter Sixty-One**

Link dropped onto the lumpy stone path that circled down to the clearing and stepped aside as the others did the same. Upon standing in it he looked to his left and, as expected, rested his eyes on the familiar image of his house.

It had seemed like such a long time since he had last seen it, but it still looked the same. And he was so tired; after trekking across Faron Province for as long as they had, he could not wait to be able to finally rest in comfort.

"What's this?" Mekial questioned curiously as he came forward, craning his neck to observe the high building.

"My house," Link answered and headed towards the ladder leading up to the porch.

"Huh. Nice place," Brent nodded, raising his eyebrows before ascending the rungs as well. Link opened the front door and stepped inside as everyone filed in after him. Though the house was still a bit cluttered in some areas, it managed to maintain a cozy atmosphere.

"Never would've pegged you as a 'tree house' person," Renée admitted, wandering over to the dining table and glancing at the contents on its surface. Her eyes doubled back to an open book. "…Are you a shepherd, too?"

"Used to be," Link said, "at least before all of this started." Though he did not add it aloud, he confessed to himself that he missed the old days of working on the ranch. Then, everything had been simple and peaceful.

"I see…" The Arkanian flipped to the next page, which portrayed a photo of a blue animal with two horns that connected high over its head to form a bent 'U'. "What the heck…?"

"It's late," Link said, removing the weapons from his back and leaning them against a corner. "We should all get some rest and head for the next shard in the morning." He walked into a room, intending to find a new shirt to replace the prison tunic that he currently wore.

"I'm fine with that." Brent stretched and headed towards a section of the entrance room, taking off his jacket and bunching it up to use as a pillow. Dropping it on the ground, he lay down close to it and rested his head on it. "Finally get to sleep without having to smell rat dung and B.O…."

Mekial yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes, heading towards the part of the room with the rug on the floor. He lay down on it and wrapped his dark cloak around him to use as a blanket, then yawned again. "I'm beat…"

Renée and Katrina also found some separate places to lie down, though Dijonay remained standing and jumped when Link stepped out of the room he had previously entered, now donning a green tunic and a pair of sand-colored pants. Feeling her watching gaze, he looked up.

"Oh. Need a blanket?"

Without waiting for a reply he retrieved the item from a nearby shelf and passed her one, then gave another to Renée and the last to Katrina. He then made to find a spot to sleep in but stopped when Dijonay grabbed his sleeve. He peered back at her curiously, only to see that her eyes were now downcast. Her shoulders shook, and she sniffed, causing him to frown confusedly.

"Uh –"

"I am sorry." Her words were hushed, as she was trying not to disturb the others who had quickly fallen asleep. "I…I never meant…for you to suffer the way you had. If…If I had known, then…"

"What?" Link turned to face her and she released his sleeve, though kept her head down. "What are you talking about?"

"I knew," the girl whispered at the floor. "I knew…that you all would be arrested. And I saw…what the flyer said. But I didn't say anything." She stiffened, waiting for him to get angry the same way that Mekial had. "I-I'm so very sorry…I…" Words failed her and she fell silent.

"…I had wondered if you knew." Dijonay started and looked up at him, surprised by how calm he sounded. "Because of your being a Seer. But if you did, then why didn't you say anything?" Dijonay held her voice for a second and then began to toy with the hem of her dress.

"Because I wasn't sure anymore," she said quietly. "I didn't know if I could trust you anymore, after seeing what I did. I…was frightened."

"I'm guessing it has to do with all that Hylian hatred in Arkania?" Dijonay just barely nodded. He did the same, and looked away. "I see."

The prime minister dropped her eyes from him and clutched the blanket to her chest. "It is pathetic," she muttered. "I almost let you die." Tears sprang into her eyes and she turned them to Brent's peaceful, slumbering face. "And him, too. But I did not care. Not even a little." She sniffed and wiped away a falling tear. "I am so foolish…"

Link followed her eyes to the blue-haired Hylian. "Then, maybe you should start. And then finally make your own judgment of people that look different."

Though he still sounded calm his words struck something inside of her, forcing her to stifle an outpour of quiet sobbing. Link placed a hand on her shoulder and her weeping stopped as she peered up at him through puffy, red eyes. It was then the Hylian noticed how much she still looked like a child, despite her political role. "Get some sleep. You'll need it."

Then he walked away and laid down on the other end of the room, closing his eyes and slowly descending into sleep.

Dijonay pressed her back against the wall she was standing near and slid to the ground, burying her face in the blanket to smother her cries of self-pity. Arkanians had been wrong.

_She _had been wrong.

Hylians were just like everyone else: there were good ones and there were bad ones. Whether they were one or the other had nothing to do with their race. What history had informed the Arkanians did not matter.

Link was right. She needed to make her own judgment of people, rather than listening to the unfair words of everyone else.

Perhaps she would start with Link. Or maybe even her brother.

Because they were some of the good ones.

Her whimpering quieted and she slipped to the floor, encircling her body in the blanket's warmth. Closing her wet eyes she fell asleep, her worries finally departing and peace enshrouding her in rest.

* * *

There was the faintest sound, smaller than a crick but at the same time, unnatural.

Link's eyes flew open, blue lights staring at the sunroof until everything else came into focus. The longer he stared at the ceiling's hole, the more he realized: it couldn't even be dawn yet. He probably hadn't even been sleeping for very long.

Quietly, he turned his head to look at the others: it did not seem like any of them had heard the noise – not even Brent or Katrina. He refaced the ceiling and made to drift off to sleep again, dismissing the sound as a trick of his imagination.

_ Criiiick..._

Link tensed and at the same time sensed movement from Brent close by. The former slowly sat up, while the latter opened his eyes and looked about the room, as if to find the source. Link lifted his eyes to the floor above. There was no denying it - something was upstairs.

Hearing Link's movement Brent, too, sat up and gave him a half-tired, half-inquisitive look. Link did not give him a facial nor verbal response, instead reaching for the hilt of the sword lying beside him. Brent followed the man's eyes, peering at the upper platform of the dark house.

Floorboards creaked, followed by a hollow _thunk_, as though a boot had touched the rung of a ladder. There was a pause and both Hylians held their breath.

Then the sound came again, keeping at a steady pace as a pair of feet descended the wooden steps.

As softly as possible, Link drew his sword out of its sheath and then reached into his belt pouch, rummaging for the lantern. Brent stretched out a hand and gripped his staff, then faced the kitchen, where a second ladder stood. If someone truly were coming down to them, they would have to descend those rungs next.

Link withdrew his lantern and placed it in front of him, his gaze locked on the spot above the second ladder as he waited for something to appear. Brent nudged Renée with the end of his Bo and when she awoke put a finger to his lips. Seeing his apprehension she gripped her sword and looked in the direction he was facing.

Feet tiptoed across the floorboards after stepping away from the ladder and when the ground creaked hurriedly stopped, as though fearful of disturbing those who slept below. Then they advanced again and a body moved through the shadows, attracting Link's eyes.

Sensing a watchful gaze the stranger looked up. Bright red eyes locked onto Link and the person tripped over their feet in surprise, toppling off the platform and rolling onto the kitchen floor with a thunderous thud and a heavy grunt.

A split second later Link was on his feet, heaving the intruder up and shoving him against the side of the kitchen counter, one hand clutching a handful of his shirt while the other pointed his sword at their nose.

Brent jumped from the floor to give him support, as did Renée, who stopped beside the lantern and switched it on, letting orange light swim forth.

Firelight streamed into the kitchen to illuminate the blue-skinned face of the boy Link held, his eyes tightened and his hand gripping Link's wrist to prevent suffocation. His hair shone brightly, attracting attention to his silver headband.

Brent's guard slightly dropped, while Renée's eyebrows rose.

Link, however, was unfazed by the boy's odd appearance – though he did loosen his grip upon noticing his young age.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "What are you doing in my house?"

Morbex grunted in Link's grip and his words came out strangled. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...surprise you. You all...actually surprised me..." Already he could feel his frail body weakening and he gasped. Renée's wide eyes looked between him and Link fearfully.

"L-Link…!"

Link looked back at her and then released the imp, who smoothly slid to the floor, clutching his chest.

"You're Link...?" the child barely whispered, lifting his hazy vision to the Hylian towering over him. His red eyes fell to his left hand where a triangular birthmark was apparent. "Yes... You're definitely him..."

Link stood back, his eyebrows pursing. "Do I...know you?"

"No…" Morbex paused for another breath and then used the counter to help himself to his feet. "But I know you."

Link's eyes narrowed. "How?"

"I came here to warn you," Morbex leaned against the counter as his body regained its lost strength, "to prevent you from losing your life." Link frowned.

"Warn us of what?" Brent inquired, curiosity hidden beneath the edge of suspicion in his voice.

"About Malbex."

"Malbex?" Surprise built on the Hylian's face. "You know who he is?"

"Yes." Morbex gave a half nod. "I'm guessing you all have met him, then?"

"Only once," Link admitted. "But we know enough about him to know what he's after."

"Is that so?" Morbex took another deep and steadying breath, and his eyes flitted to the back of the room as someone shifted in their sleep.

"…Who are you?" Link asked again, redirecting his eyes towards him. "And how do you know who Malbex is?"

"My name is Morbex Zenor," the imp replied. "And I know Malbex because we are from the same country." He paused. "…And the same family."

"You guys are related?!" Brent burst, his eyes widening.

"Yes," Morbex nodded again, then hurried on when he spotted the tightening of their battle positions, "but that doesn't mean that I'm on his side." He looked at Link. "I came to warn you about him, to warn you about what he wants to do. And, if you need it, I can offer my help, because I want to stop him."

Link scrutinized the child for a moment longer, then turned to view Renée and Brent.

"You're related to Malbex," Brent repeated, taking a step forward and never releasing the grip on his staff, "but you want to help us."

Morbex nodded to confirm.

"I think we should hear what he has to say." Renée straightened up, though kept a watchful gaze on the blue-skinned foreigner. "And what he wanted to warn us of. Or what he wanted to warn_ you _of." She looked pointedly at Link, who broke eye contact with her to look away thoughtfully.

"We don't have very much time," Morbex cut in, dragging Link's eyes towards him. "And I don't know how far Malbex has gotten."

"Time?" Renée repeated quizzically. Again someone moved behind them, and Katrina poked her head out from beneath her blanket to glare daggers at those who were awake. Irritably she rubbed her eyes and looked again, allowing the human-shaped blobs to come into better focus.

"I can't say we can fully trust you," Brent said, lowering his weapon from the boy's face, "seeing as you're related to our enemy. But I agree with Renée. We'll hear what you have to say."

Link also stepped away to grant Morbex a comfortable amount of space and lowered his sword to his side. "Start talking."

Morbex straightened up against the kitchen counter and looked between the trio of faces bearing down on him in anticipation. Involuntarily his eyes dropped to the back of the room again, shortly watching as Katrina rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes. He then brought his eyes back to the three standing in front of him.

Then took a breath.


	63. Chapter 62

**Chapter Sixty-Two**

_It couldn't have been more than a year ago._

Malbex's fingers clenched the stone still and his red eyes glared through the palace window beneath a firm scowl.

_If I had noticed, maybe I could have prevented it._

Even from Palace Eldonis' location, nestled in the side of a tall mountain, he could see the townspeople milling between buildings, draping penna nt banners and hanging up paper lanterns. Further away long tables were being set up for a feast, and even the large marble fountain, carved to resemble the three goddesses, was given an encircling row of flowers.

The longer he stared at the decorated sculpture, the deeper his scowl became and a fist formed at his side.

_Maybe if I had actually stopped to think._

Malbex turned from the twilit view to continue down the corridor, his boots clopping against the smooth-faced floors to pierce the surrounding silence.

_Maybe then, it would've been different._

Within moments two figures came into view before him, standing before the grandiose doors of the throne room. Without sparing even the smallest of glances he recognized one of them as Morbex –

His younger brother.

Pale skin and silver hair radiant in the amber light that shone through the windows across the hall, the young prince spoke quietly to the man standing in front of him. The bright, red eyes that he and Malbex shared were so focused on the person before him that he barely noticed his brother approaching. As Malbex drew nearer their conversation came to a close, and the man lifted a hand in a short wave of departure.

"Later, then." His foreign, dark eyes moved to meet Malbex, who was now only feet away, and he bowed his head cordially.

"Your Highness."

Malbex tipped his chin. "Kelvis."

Silently Kelvis turned away, crossing into a dark stairwell across the hall and ascending out of sight. Once his footsteps had died, Malbex observed his brother. Like him, he was garbed in formalwear and a silver headband that wrapped around his forehead. Yet, the accessory was partly hidden behind his silver fringe. Malbex cleared his throat and tapped the visible headpiece that he himself wore.

"…Oh!" Morbex hastily brushed his bangs apart to reveal the band. "Thank you."

Malbex nodded shortly, and then inclined his head to the doors of the throne room. "Ready?"

Morbex nodded silently.

And together they faced and approached the doors. As they drew closer the two guards stationed near them pushed them open, creating a heavy, drawn-out creak that, to Morbex, nearly screamed down the halls.

_Calm down._

Though his heart still pounded like a war drum he stepped into the chamber with his brother, and the soldiers sealed the doors behind them.

Chandeliers twinkled softly in the light that streamed through the dome glass, dotting the hall with sparkling light. Pillars that ran along the sides of the room pressed against the ceiling, and images of historical events that had occurred during each king or queen's reign were painted on the walls between them.

Each one stood in chronological order, leading up to the most recent portrait of the present king standing in the midst of a battlefield while pointing forward, ordering the army behind him to attack a group of retreating enemies.

As he looked at it Morbex remembered learning that the event had happened only a couple of years after he had been born, when an eastern land had tried to invade Eldonis to expand its territory. His father had taken command of the army himself and led Eldonis to victory, preserving it from anymore interaction with the outside world.

Just like the Pact wanted.

As Malbex strode into the room, he did not let his eyes wander like his brother, instead keeping them fixed on who lay ahead of him: tall and imposing even while sitting in his dragon carved throne at the end of the room, King Sol Zenor stared at the approaching princes, his narrow and wrinkled red eyes watching them wordlessly. In a chair beside him sat the queen, her long silver hair plaited over her shoulder and her hands laced in her lap.

Morbex looked between them quickly. The coronation ceremony was only a few weeks away and with such an event drawing near, there was little else for the king to have suddenly summoned the princes for. Started by the previous king, age was no longer used to determine an heir amongst multiple offspring, but would instead be chosen by the king based on skill and dependability.

Though often called a prodigy and assured he would be chosen, Morbex had often wished that his father had stuck to the traditional coming of age ceremonies. Being surrounded by instructors and books almost his entire life so as to further improve his natural talent, he was not at all sure that he would make a good king. He barely knew the people, and they him – he was not even positive he would be able to handle such an awesome responsibility.

He slid Malbex an unnoticed glance before they both stopped in the center of the room. Following customs of formality, they placed a hand over their hearts and bent at the waist, then straightened their backs and locked eyes with the king.

"You are both prompt in your summoning," the ruler started, his low voice heavy in the chamber, "as always."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Morbex nodded.

"It is amazing, isn't it, how short the goddesses decided time should be," the king went on slowly. "Already, you both have grown much. And I have been pleased with both of you. Even so, it is hard for me to believe that this time has finally come."

Morbex tensed; Malbex set his jaw.

"That already, I must choose between you both for one of you to succeed me. You both are older now, more mature: intelligent, and wise. And it eases my soul, to know that our country will continue to prosper beneath the next king." He paused. "But only one of you will have that role.

"I have discussed it with my advisers," he then informed them, "and debates ensued: some were in favor of one prince, and others of the other. But with their words and arguments, I have finally come to a conclusion, and made a decision. As per the custom started by the previous king, Dayton, you have both been called to hear of this before the public.

"So now I tell you, that the Crown Prince," the aging ruler's eyes fixed themselves on the one he had chosen, and they softened slightly, "will be you, Prince Morbex."

Instantly forgetting all courtesy, Morbex's mouth fell open and his eyes bulged, while Malbex held his tongue and forced all emotion off of his face. Morbex's gaze then shifted to meet his mother, who smiled and gave him a small nod. But even with that gesture of encouragement, he did not want to accept his father's words.

Everything in him desired to lash back, to deny the king's choice and refuse consent. But his jaw remained slack, and his stupefied mind could not create a coherent sentence.

"Take heed, my son." Morbex's eyes fell back on his father. "I am trusting you with ruling over this vast country when I am gone. But I do not doubt your capabilities. You are shrewd and more than reliable. Your success is no less than reality."

Morbex forced a nod, honored and stunned to have gained such favor and faith from the king. Though he was his father, the man did not say such words to him often.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty."

The king lifted his head in approval. "The ceremony is in two weeks. The city is big, as is the event, and preparations are already being made. I suggest that you, too, go and prepare yourself." He looked at Malbex, who held his gaze with a stern yet impassive visage. "Your brother also has some preparations of his own to make."

And, despite his silent, screaming denial, Morbex bowed again.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You are both dismissed."

With a swish of his jacket Morbex turned and exited the chamber. As the doors were closed in his wake, the king lowered his eyes to his eldest descendant, and his already firm gaze hardened. The queen also looked to her lingering son, thin silver eyebrows furrowing.

"Dare you ignore my orders, Prince Malbex?"

"…Father," Malbex started respectfully, lifting his head and, though the man's old and lined face looked grim, he did not cease, "I don't mean to disrespect your decision. But, why was I not chosen to succeed you?"

The king grunted. "You truly ask such a question? Age does not make a king: intelligence and prowess do. Morbex has both of these."

"So," Malbex's eyes hardened, "you still look down on me. All this time –"

"You defy my judgment?" the king inquired darkly, his thick gray brow creasing to deepen the lines on his forehead. "Do you think you would have made a better king? And why would that be?" Malbex's mouth remained closed. "You give yourself too much credit," the king growled. "I selected the one that would prove to be the best in my place."

"I see." Malbex closed his eyes with a heartless smirk. "So that is where you stand." The king's eyes narrowed. "Then you would be fine with leaving the country to a boy who has no vision and no plan to make our land even greater? You would be satisfied knowing that Eldonis would just continue being an isolated community, silent and unaware of what is around us?"

At this the king's thin eyes widened and his hands clenched the edges of his armrests. "What…manner of blasphemy is this?" he demanded, his eyebrows bristling. "You actually suggest that I would consider having my successor violate the Pact and put the entire country in danger? And all of my people?!" But then his posture eased and his face fell with sudden understanding. "No…" He sat back in the throne and his expression grew troubled. The queen's face also fell and she looked on at the prince with growing sadness.

"So the Council's suspicions were true then," she uttered softly.

The king rubbed his forehead. "Such traitorous ambitions…" His eyes were hidden behind his thick hand for a moment, and when they were finally shown again they bore down on Malbex with such fierce intensity that they stood close to hatred.

Malbex's eyes narrowed right back at him. Such a gaze did not bother him – his father had always liked Morbex better.

"Ideas such as those would lead the country to ruin," the king bellowed menacingly, his voice filling every corner of the room, "and the goddesses would see to it that our entire race was condemned with our brethren! If you in fact were king, would you want that? Would you want to see your people sealed into a world of complete isolation?!"

"There's no difference between that and how we are now," Malbex returned flatly, his eyes unwavering.

"If that is how you think," the king rested his arms on the chair again and he held Malbex with a scornful, red gaze, "then I have made the correct choice."

Malbex's eyes tightened and he bit back his next words.

"Now – get out of my sight."

And without a word or even making a bow of respect Malbex turned on his heel and marched away, flourishing his hand out in front of him. Instantly the doors swung open, startling the soldiers that stood on their opposing side. Quickly recovering from the shock they pulled the doors shut as Malbex stepped in to the corridor and, keeping his eyes forward, he made his way towards a passage further ahead.

But he barely made it a few steps away before a voice sounded and a hand suddenly latched around his arm, pleading him to wait.

After pausing to gather his composure, Malbex turned his head slightly and his eyes flitted from Morbex's face to the hand clinging to his limb. He sighed.

"What?"

"Malbex, I…" Morbex's hand fell away from the prince's arm to dangle at his side in defeat. "I don't… I don't know what to do now. Dad, he…he picked me." He seized a clump of his own hair. "But why? Why not you? You'd be…" He trailed off at the dark look on Malbex's face, and words failed him. He clamped his mouth shut.

"I doubt you could change his mind," Malbex said, turning and walking away. "So you should just accept it." He took a few more steps, and then suddenly stopped at the start of the corridor and peered over his shoulder. "Oh – and congratulations."

Then he refaced the hall and continued on his way, with Morbex staring after him in troubled silence.


	64. Chapter 63

**Chapter Sixty-Three**

_"I doubt you could change his mind."_

The words streaked through Morbex's mind over the next couple of weeks whenever he second-guessed the king's decision. Though he did not wish to believe it, he had to admit that Malbex was right. Changing the king's mind would take so long that even if he did manage to succeed he would have been dubbed Crown Prince already.

Two days before the ceremony he finally gave up; there was no use in pondering it. The only option that he had was to keep moving forward.

It would all be all right.

But on the day of the coronation those words of support all but stopped encouraging him. As he stared at the outfit he had been fitted to wear – a dark swallowtail jacket, tunic and dress pants along with a pair of black shoes – he suddenly realized how different things would be. Part of him was excited while the rest was simply nervous.

Had his father really made the right choice?

A sudden rapping on his door sliced through his thoughts, and he looked up.

"Your Highness, the ceremony will soon begin," a servant's voice declared through the door, "and the King has requested you to meet him at the entrance of the palace."

"Yes, tell him I'm on my way."

Footsteps clicked away to signal the departure of the messenger, and Morbex looked back at the clothes lying on his bed.

There was no changing it now.

The king looked up and squinted through the bright afternoon sun to see the palace entrance just as Morbex appeared and descended the staircase with hurried grace.

By his father's side stood the queen and as her son drew close she spread out her arms and cupped his face in her hands, smiling warmly.

"Are you ready?" she asked quietly.

"As I'll ever be."

His mother kissed his forehead, and then gestured to one of the waiting carriages. As Morbex approached it the soldiers stationed to march alongside it bowed their heads, and one opened the door for him to climb inside.

After hearing the door click shut, the driver of the vehicle grasped the reins and cracked them against the horses' sides, leading the animals to pull away from Palace Eldonis and follow the sloping, rock-bordered path into the capital of Reith.

As the carriage pulled into the city, Morbex looked out of the window and found that the streets had been cleared. More people than he could have ever imagined were standing on the sidewalks, smiling, waving and shouting as he passed. Children were sitting on shoulders and others were holding up pictograph boxes, positioning them over other heads in an attempt to have a good shot at him.

So many voices were sounding at once that he almost wasn't sure which words went with which sentence. But still he sat up and looked at them and, with a hammering heart, raised a hand to wave.

And they waved back.

Though not displayed on his face he was surprised – he had rarely gone down to see the people at all in his life.

_But still, they…_

Perhaps this was not as bad as he thought it was.

Moments later the carriage came to a complete stop, and the soldier riding in the back hopped down and opened the door for Morbex to step out. As it opened the voices magnified around him and the cries and cheers grew even louder as he stepped onto the cobblestone walkway of the city square. There, he was escorted to the staircase leading to the Council Building, which had once been known as the original Palace Eldonis before the Pact had first been made. Though not as big as the present palace it was still enormous, and its towers stretched to scrape against the heavens.

Ahead of him, Morbex spotted the king and queen being ushered towards the building as well and watched as they ascended the tall stairs, and then walked inside.

Surrounded by a unit of soldiers Morbex followed them. Steadily, the citizens' shouting voices died away as he stepped foot into the building, and soon the echoing steps of his and the soldiers' shoes tapping against the floor took over.

Then the guards broke ranks to take positions around the entrance hall while two remained at the prince's sides and followed him to the tall, open doorway on the room's opposing end. Morbex approached it with ever growing tension and stopped in front of it to take a refreshing breath.

Then he stepped forward, disappearing into the darkness of the passage and his feet taking soft, padded steps against the carpet that spanned the floor. Seconds later he emerged on the other end and light erupted around him, falling through the stained glass window on the far end of the room he now stood in. His eyes quickly adjusted and he soon found the area to be full of members of the Eldonese upper class.

Lieutenants and generals lined the outer edges of the room while amongst the evenly parted crowd were all manners and ranks of nobility. At the far end of the room and standing at the top of a set of carpeted stairs were the members of the council, as well as a number of priests and, as old and gray as the king that stood behind him with the queen, the archbishop.

Pretending to take no notice of the stares he was receiving from everyone Morbex strode down the aisle, his eyes directed and focused in front of him, and at the foot of the stairs the two soldiers that flanked him stepped off to the sides, leaving him to ascend the steps on his own.

The archbishop's aged, sagging face bowed down as Morbex came nearer, and then he held a hand out in front of him.

Reading the movement, Morbex stopped at the head of the stairs and placed a hand over his heart, then lowered himself to one knee and bowed his head.

The archbishop lifted his eyes and observed the attentive crowd in front of him.

"Heaven smiles down on us this day," he started, his old voice echoing through the chamber to carry to everyone's ears, "and the goddesses have seen fit to recognize the next Crown Prince of Eldonis by granting us such beautiful conditions. By the decree created by the previous king, Dayton, our king has selected one of his sons to succeed him, and we gather here in recognition of that decision."

He then dropped his gaze to the young man kneeling in front of him and extended a hand to a priest standing at his side. Stepping forward, the man gave him the item that he carried: a scepter.

But upon closer examination, Morbex instantly recognized the golden rod as the same one that was sewn into the banners and flags of the country, and that had once been carried by the very king that had made the Pact with the gods.

"Now I ask you, Prince Morbex, son of King Sol and Queen Lemmah Zenor," the archbishop started, holding the scepter in front of him with both hands, "as Crown Prince, do you swear to abide by the laws that our country has lived by since the time of Ramon the Great?"

Morbex did not falter in his response. "Yes, Your Grace."

"And do you swear to abide by and heed the Pact that the goddesses so mercifully allowed us to make on the day you become king?"

"Yes, Your Grace."

"And do you accept the consequences of not following this law should you break it?"

"…Yes, Your Grace."

The archbishop then lowered the scepter to the young prince's face, and then hovered it above each of his shoulders.

"Then by the power given to me as Archbishop, I now dub you Crown Prince of Eldonis: heir to the throne and our future king. Now, rise, Crown Prince Morbex."

Releasing no breath of objection, Morbex did so and faced the crowd.

Softly, a pair of hands clapped somewhere in the midst of the audience, followed by a few more scattered followers until the entire group was applauding, smiling and nodding their approval to him.

The grim expression on Morbex's face lifted and he peeked at his clapping parents out of the corner of his eye. His gaze then doubled back at a sudden realization and his cherry eyes roved back over the crowd. Then his face saddened.

It seemed Malbex had decided not to come.

_I rarely saw him after that._

"So." The chair creaked as Kelvis sat down in it and Morbex looked up from his book. "The Crown Prince is still the same old bookworm." He laughed lightly as Morbex averted his eyes with a hint of pink in his cheeks, and then glanced around the royal archive.

Double aisles of books ran from one end of the cavernous room to the other, filled to the brim with scrolls, books, tomes and logs, and ladders used to reach obnoxiously high shelves were leaning against some of the cases, forsaken until a need for them arose once more. In the center of the room where he and Morbex sat was a circular clearing beneath a dome ceiling, its similarly shaped rug covered with chairs and tables where other people were sitting to read.

"Thought I'd find you here."

"I have a lot to live up to now," Morbex said, re-reading the line Kelvis had interrupted. "I need to know how to handle it."

"Good to hear." Kelvis sat back in the wooden seat. "When you were talking to me all the way back before the king's summoning, you seemed worried. It's good to see that you've accepted it."

Morbex suddenly frowned as Kelvis' words led Malbex's voice to ring in his ears. "Yeah…say, have you seen Malbex around?"

"Him?" Kelvis shook his head. "No. Ever since the summoning, I haven't seen him much of anywhere anymore. Sometimes I catch him walking in the halls but he looks so caught up in his thoughts that it's difficult to talk to him."

"I see…" Morbex lowered his eyes back to the book in front of him.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh, nothing, really. Just some records about the Pact."

Kelvis' dark eyebrows rose in curiosity. "Why?"

"I'm just looking up…extra details…" He trailed off and flipped to the next page, then read part of a paragraph at a mutter, " '_In the year 655 interlopers of the southernmost tribe of Eldonis, the Twili, tried to control the divine power of the goddesses_'…."

"Then they made the Fused Shadows, which the gods sealed away before determining to banish all people of Eldonis into another dimension as punishment. But Ramon the Great made an agreement that the northernmost tribe, the Fenri, would isolate themselves from the rest of the world and keep their magic to themselves, so as to save their butts from oblivion," Kelvis finished dully. "I even know the details. What are you looking for?"

"I was just curious about some things," Morbex answered simply. "For example, what _would_ happen if the Pact were broken? The archbishop mentioned consequences at the ceremony, but I've never really known what they were."

"Beats me." Kelvis shrugged. "When I heard about the Pact, I often wondered why my being here hasn't triggered anything. I'm not from here, after all – and there are still plenty of nobles that think I'm an endangerment. I suppose I can't really blame them."

"But it wasn't your fault!" Morbex protested, suddenly looking up. "You didn't choose to come here. And still nothing's happened! If you hadn't shown up…" He suddenly stopped, realizing how much he owed to the outlander. "…You were my very first friend, Kelvis. I never got to hang around anyone else because of my studies, but you…" He shook his head. "You're almost like a brother to me. So don't think that your being here is a burden on anyone."

Kelvis chuckled. "Don't tell me you're turning into a sap."

Pink washed over Morbex's cheeks. "B-but it's true – _ack!_" He cut off as Kelvis bumped his knuckles against his forehead as if he were knocking on a door. Rubbing at the spot he'd been hit, Morbex forced a frown. "I can have you arrested."

"Yeah right." Kelvis leaned back again. "You don't need to worry. I've got enough of a head on my shoulders to not let it bother me. …It's not like I can leave anyway." He caught sight of the hurt look creeping its way onto the prince's face. "But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate what you said." He smiled. "After all, you're my friend as well."

And at that, Morbex smiled.

_But even then…_

A low growl beat its way out of his throat and slid through his clenched teeth to erupt into a roar of frustration. His hand lashed out and the book leaped from his fingers to splat against the floor, its pages upturned with the bold-faced words of its heading staring up at the ceiling.

_…I couldn't shake my worry of my real brother._

Malbex raked a hand through his hair, biting back every obscenity he wanted to spew out. Why was it so difficult for him? Why was it that he couldn't manage to do it?

He dropped his hand to the desk in front of him. Morbex would have been able to do it.

Of course.

Morbex could do just about _anything._

A prodigy, a genius, a tactful young man. Those were all the names he had been given, and there were still so many more. So many praises heaped up onto that one person, piled on that _child._

And he had received nothing.

No one even blinked at what he had done. No one ever paid attention. But Morbex…

_Doesn't even need to try._

Malbex gritted his teeth again and his fingers clawed into the table's surface.

Everything always came easy to him, from a new spell to a new admirer. And now, even their father had taken up membership in the prince's fan club.

No, that wasn't right. The king had always been a fan of Morbex. Almost as if he could see everything that the boy was capable of, and everything that Malbex was not. He had always compared his two sons, and shamelessly favored the younger. Even now, he believed that Morbex was more suitable to be king than he was.

_But he doesn't know._

Malbex dropped his eyes to the thick book lying on the ground.

_He doesn't know what I can do._

He picked the book up and replaced it on the table, re-reading the instructions printed across the parchment before stepping back to attempt them once more.

In the chamber of his quarters, with the curtains drawn over the windows and his door bolted shut, he held a hand out in front of him with his palm up. Tingles ran through his arm as he glared at his hand and within moments black specks began to hover above it, twisting and pivoting as they rose into the air.

Then his fingers gave an involuntary flinch and the dots vanished.

With a curse, he tried again.

This time the hue of the dark specks was more noticeable and they hovered in the air just a few seconds longer. Knowing that he was now making some kind of progress, Malbex poured more of his strength into the spell, straining himself to the point where the edges of his vision seemed to fur.

But quickly he composed himself and kept going until a thin line of white suddenly appeared over his hand, bending to revolve around an invisible, spherical object.

At first he thought it was a trick of his imagination, but the more he remained focused the more apparent the sight became until he was sure it could be nothing short of reality. With growing excitement he kept his attention fixed on the rotating white line until the sphere it orbited finally solidified into a transparent, cloudy orb.

He glanced at one of the sentences in the book and closed his hand into a fist – instantly the sphere dissolved away.

Then he did it again, focusing on his hand as tingles ran up and down his arm and the dark specks folded into existence. Then he relaxed when the misty ball appeared again and held it in place, watching as it hovered over his hand.

Carefully he pulled it towards him and, remembering another instruction from the book he closed his mind to everything else and concentrated on one, solitary thought.

And before his eyes the mist inside the orb parted and expansive fields of grass appeared, their blades bending beneath a light wind. His eyes widened and the scene switched to a commoner's village somewhere at the foot of a mountain range.

With one quick glance he instantly recognized the rocky hills as the same ones that surrounded all of Eldonis, penning the people in, but he did not at all register the community as something familiar.

And the people – they looked so _different _from what he was used to: they reminded him of Kelvis, with their dark hair and eyes. But he could spot some similarities, such as the way the people walked and their basic structure of being.

Then the image changed, rising out of the village to observe a log cabin near a river, with a man fishing close by. Again it reverted, this time showing a large lake glistening beneath the morning sunrise. Then the view changed again, then again, then again, revealing to him sights that he had never known existed, that he had never even thought of.

_So this is it._

Malbex sank down into a cushioned chair. This was what the outside world looked like.

He wondered why he had never thought of trying to use this device – this Seeker – before. It was not until he was ten years old, when Kelvis was found unconscious near the outskirts of the country, did he discover that there was an entire world outside of Eldonis. But not even then had he thought he could find out what it looked like, for he had been too intimidated by his father's warnings.

But then over time he began to form questions, and would often look out over his balcony and wonder of the land that Kelvis came from. Debt collectors of his father had run he, his mother and sister out of that mysterious land, and the latter two had not survived the crossing into Eldonis. He had asked Kelvis about the outer world many times, learning of both its complexities and its simplicities.

Eldonis should not have to hide from such an interesting place Malbex soon realized. Eldonis should not keep its greatness to itself, and the same to the Outside.

There had to be a way for them to communicate…

Malbex's eyes instantly refocused on the Seeker when a sword flashed through it, glowing with all the power of the sun. It crashed against another blade and then bounced back as its owner stumbled, knocked off balance by the force of the impact.

Then he launched forward again, locking his blade with the weapon of his opponent and pushing with all his might – Malbex could even see the man's face growling beneath the effort.

Then the Seeker changed its viewpoint, granting its new owner a look at the one the green-clad man was facing. He was easily two times larger than him but somehow he was forced to stagger back, allowing his tiny, pointy-eared opponent to charge in and deliver a savage fury of swipes.

Malbex's mind raced, and his eyes widened when the larger man was completely knocked to the ground. Then the smaller fighter leaped forward and lodged his sword into his enemy's chest.

Malbex had never heard such an agonizing scream before, one that seemed to make his blood run cold.

He wanted to close his fist, to send the Seeker shattering away before his eyes so that he could no longer see the sudden gory event displayed before him. But his body could not move, could not do anything but let his eyes watch, mesmerized, as the larger man swayed to get to his feet.

But as the man began to speak, his life's blood spilling from his wound to drip onto the soil beneath him, Malbex's eyes dropped to a faint light emanating from the back of his hand. He squinted at it and then flexed his fingers, enticing the Seeker to close in on the sight. Just as Malbex got a better view of the triangular mark it faded, dying away as the man's voice rattled off with a gurgled choke.

_That image._

Where had he seen it before?

Quickly Malbex racked his brain for the answer, no longer focused on the Seeker even as the man's head lolled into his chest. Then he remembered: it was the same image in the historical logs that described the Twili and the magic that they had once tried to control before being sentenced to banishment.

_The Triforce._

It belonged to the goddesses, his memories reminded him. But what else?

_I suppose it consumed his mind back then, and he became even more aloof._

Malbex roamed the aisles of the royal archive, craning his neck up at books that were above him and scanning the hinges that were within his reach.

_Busy with new duties, I didn't run into him often._

Piles of books and scrolls were scattered across his desk for the next few months, filled with information about a number of historical events from the descent of the goddesses to the reason the Pact had been made. Myths and folktales were also amongst the informative mess and pictures and drawings of scenery and deities as well.

"Have you seen Malbex?" Morbex hailed a servant that was ambling down the hall in his direction.

"Oh, Your Highness," the old man bowed as Morbex jogged up to him. "I'm afraid not."

Morbex sighed. "He's always at the council meetings and things like that, but I never see him anywhere else. I'd like to get a chance to speak with him, even if only for a moment."

The man smiled. "Ah, what a pure heart you have… But from what I've heard, he doesn't come close to people these days. Always shut up in his room, the poor boy. He'll live a lonely life if he stays like that. Not even that girl who followed him around since he found her all alone in Terit can get to him now…"

_ As Crown Prince, I never did have enough time to seek him out._

_ Maybe if I'd done more…_

Malbex pushed a scroll off to the side of his desk. It was just like every other book that he found and told him nothing more than he already knew. And there were far too many documents in the library to go through. It could take him years to find out more facts about the divine relic left behind by the gods.

If only he could find something…there was the possibility that it held the answer to freeing Eldonis from the chains King Ramon had bound it with centuries ago.

But even with his straining desire, he wanted to quit. Maybe his hopes were really nothing more than the "traitorous ambitions" that they had been called. Perhaps finding a way for Eldonis to step out of its borders really would just do nothing more than bring it to ruin.

Malbex rubbed his forehead and rested his elbows on the table, and his red irises fell to a leather book lying in the corner. Its title was faded but he grabbed it anyway. He had nothing left to lose.

Wearing a bored expression he slapped the book open and thumbed through its worn pages, quickly scanning the words in an effortless hunt for an answer. His eyes snagged onto a sentence then doubled back before his fingers could turn the page and he read it slowly, analyzing each word. His heart began to pound, and a smile crawled across his face.

_ " 'One wish'…"_


	65. Chapter 64

**Chapter Sixty-Four**

Morbex walked across the bridge that connected the main building to the western wing, staring blankly out of the tall windows. As he came to the end of the bridge he turned into an ascending stairwell and stepped out onto one of the upper levels, then followed it in the direction of his brother's quarters. Though he had come here many times and received the same result, he figured he might as well try again. Perhaps he'd finally get the chance to speak to Malbex and find out what was going on in his head.

Nearing the door, he brought up a hand and rapped his knuckles against it. "Malbex? It's me."

There was no answer.

Morbex's eyebrows creased and he knocked again, louder than he ever had before. Why was his brother being so secretive? "Malbex!"

Still, there was nothing.

He reached down for the handle and twisted it – as always, it was locked. He bared his teeth.

_I'm sorry._

Morbex took a few steps back and extended his hand towards the door, then flicked his wrist. Smoke puffed into being around his hand then floated away and barely a split second later a soft explosion sounded on the other side of Malbex's door. Then with a soft creak, it opened just a bit. Morbex held his breath.

Nothing happened.

Deeming it safe to continue, he approached the door and gently pushed it open, revealing the melted remains of the lock that had once held it shut. Quietly he walked inside and frowned through the darkness to look at the room's interior.

"Malbex…?"

Still no voice uttered in response, and so Morbex continued through the room until he nearly stumbled over a stray book. Kneeling down, he picked it up and looked at its blank front and back cover. His eyes then shifted to look at a nearby desk, cluttered with an assortment of documents and logs, and then moved back to the book in his hand. Suddenly spotting a streamer dangling out of it, he opened it to the marked page and read some of its words.

" '_But should the pieces be split, one must find all three. After that, they are then deemed worthy to have one wish granted'…_" He looked around the quarters again and then, replacing the book on the messy desk, departed.

"Prince Morbex!"

Startled, Morbex quickly closed his brother's door behind him and looked up and down the hall to see who had called him. It was a soldier, rushing towards him at top speed, and though the man's face was hidden behind a helmet, Morbex figured that he bode ill news to share.

"What is it?"

"Y-Your Highness," the man stopped to catch his breath, "P-Prince Malbex is…Prince Malbex has gone to the western caves!"

Morbex's eyes widened. "What!?"

"It's true, Sir! As an argorok Air Guard I swear this to you!"

"Argorok…" Morbex lowered his eyes to the uniform that the man donned as he repeated the name of the vicious dragon. "Then you saw him?"

"Yes, sir! I and my squadron; he has gone with Lady Ruheart and Tentra Durkhamis!"

"Tentra? Malbex's caretaker from when he was a child?" Morbex murmured. "And Miss Alexandria?"

Years ago the royal family had traveled to the coastline of Eldonis to witness the official recognition of a new town that had been built for the less of society, which had been named Terit. There, Malbex had found a young girl crying in the streets over the loss of her parents due to the poor life conditions of the non-wealthy. Presumably having taken pity on her, he had her accompany the family back to the palace and ordered that she be treated with respect. Though he had only been a child, barely over the age of nine, the guards had heeded his words and followed his orders.

Alexandria had always tagged along wherever Malbex had gone since then, Morbex recalled. So it would partly explain why she would follow him even to such a horrible place as where the Shadows were to reside.

But Tentra?

_Why wouldn't he stop him?_

"How far have they gotten?"

"I'm not sure, Sir, I and another member of my group flew here as quickly as possible to warn you and the king, while the rest went to try and stop them."

Morbex nodded. "Good work. Then come with me. We're going to catch up to them."

"Sir!"

_But Malbex had planned something._

Morbex swung up into the saddle of his horse and kicked its sides, spurring the animal to break into a full-speed gallop. The small group of soldiers that he had organized rode out behind him, following their prince out of the stables and to the road that wound down the mountainside in the direction of the caverns. Overhead the heavy wings of an argorok dragon flapped, its encasement of black armor glinting in the sun and its dark shadow soaring over the road like a cloud of smoke.

_And he betrayed us all._

A dark, misty object appeared somewhere ahead, zooming forward with such speed that Morbex's mind could not properly identify it. He blinked once and the cloud whizzed by his ear with a husky growl, sending chills up his spine.

Then all at once a soldier shouted behind him and a horse neighed in surprise then toppled to the ground in a heap. Dust flew into the air and Morbex hauled on the reins, as did his officers, and they looked back to see that whatever had shot by the prince's ear was now dragging the fallen horse's master backward by the neck.

"Radomil!" Morbex pulled the reins to the side and his horse made an about face, then sprinted towards the soldier in captivity. But he had only been galloping for a moment before the prince came to the conclusion that he would not make it in time.

No longer willing to trust the equine's speed, Morbex held out his hand and blinding light erupted from it, sending the Shadow screaming into the sky in a wild frenzy. The dirt that it had dragged into the air began to settle, and Morbex's horse stopped short beside his fallen comrade. Sliding out of his saddle, he rushed to the man's side.

"Radomil!"

Once beside him he quickly checked the man's pulse. Discovering it was still beating, he proceeded to shake him to see if he was still conscious.

But he didn't move.

"Your Highness!"

Morbex's head snapped up at the sound of the soldiers' call, and at the same time a blur of black objects zipped overhead to attract his eyes. With growing horror he identified them as a slew of Shadows, and watched as they sped up the hill in the direction of the palace.

But…the Shadows were known to keep to the land near their caves. What would they want with the palace?

Knowing there was only one way to learn the answer, Morbex stood to his feet and looked up to the Air Guard above: by now his dragon had gained a significant amount of altitude and was swiveling and barreling through the air to avoid the onslaught of Shadows. Its rider swatted at the incoming beasts with his sword as quickly as he could but missed each of them as they passed. Only seconds later one of the speeding blurs crashed into him, knocking him clear out of his saddle.

Morbex's hand shot out and a chant ran through his mind without a pause of hesitation. Instantly the soldier's body stopped in midair, floating above the peak of a sharp rock.

"Back to the castle!" Morbex bellowed at his small army, directing the soldier that he carried to hover over safe ground and lowering him to his feet. "Quickly!"

The dragon above suddenly let out an overwhelming shriek and swung its head around, unleashing a stream of glowing flames from the depths of its chest. Fire engulfed its soaring enemies, sending them spiraling to the ground where the black cloaks they bore disintegrated to reveal their weathered corpses.

Even as their carcasses splattered against the ground Morbex's army rushed back to the palace, their horses' hooves kicking dirt into the sky. One stopped to take Radomil onto his mount, while the Air Guard hailed down his dragon and hopped back into the saddle.

Morbex, too, readjusted himself onto his ride and spurred his sides, galloping at breakneck speed towards his home.

_Malbex…_

He gritted his teeth and kicked the horse again as the palace towers rose into view.

_I pray you aren't involved in this._

Warning bells were already singing by the time the prince reached the palace and soldiers were scattered across the grounds, hurling javelins and firing arrows and spells at the speeding clouds of mist that threatened them.

As Morbex charged into their midst he raised a hand against the creatures, sending blasts of light into the air to blind them and send them back to the pits they hailed from. At the front entrance he slid out of his saddle and hastened up the steps, covering his head with his arms and ducking beneath artillery and sorcery. During his ascent he missed a step and toppled over, successfully avoiding an arrow, and then quickly clambered up the remaining stairs.

Why were the Shadows attacking here, he wondered, stopping at the head of the staircase and rounding on the battlefield. What could have possibly led them to lead a strike on the palace?

Directing a few more spells at the black clouds that darted and dove around the premise Morbex kept defense in mind, calculating strategies and hollering orders at the soldiers near him.

But some of his plans did not carry out as he had hoped, and some of the Shadows managed to slip into the castle and create chaos within.

With a heavy heart Morbex left the frontlines to the men outside and dodged into the building. There the cry of the alarm rose in pitch to blend with the petrifying shrieks of the Shadows, and he pressed a hand against the side of his head. All around him servants and workers were doing the same, screaming in terror and clutching their ears. The blood-curdling screams resounded all around him, and everywhere black clouds shot forth, knocking people over and grabbing some by their necks.

In the center of the hall Morbex stumbled to a halt and released the hold on his ears to cross his hands in front of him. Words rolled off his tongue at a murmur that was drowned out by another scream, and when he finished he swung his arms out to the sides. Light blinked and expanded in front of him, then brightened until its body was illuminating the entire chamber.

When it had faded, the Shadows had vanished into curls of black smoke and bodies lay strewn across the floor, still and lifeless or grabbing their heads with a moan of distress.

But the screaming didn't stop.

Morbex darted into a nearby passageway, following the cries, and emerged onto one of the bridges. Amongst the swishing black cloaks and the scattered soldiers, he managed to spot a familiar being on the opposite end of the hall, sending blasts of white magic at the enemies surrounding him.

"Dad!"

Morbex ran to him without thinking, only glad that he had found at least one of his parents. Now all he had to do was find the queen.

But he barely made it close enough for his father to notice him before something hard and rough closed around his throat, sucking away his breath and ripping his feet off the floor.

In the next instant, everything went black.

The king knocked a Shadow out of the air and looked up just as another disappeared in a familiar wisp of darkness.

And standing directly behind it was Malbex.

But unlike the others that stood throughout the hall, fighting for their lives, the prince stood stock-still, his pale and impassive face staring at the ruler in front of him without even a hint of fear. The king's suspicions descended into clarity, and his face twisted into vengeful fury.

He growled angrily, and the bestial noise formed into a roar, "You…! You're behind this!"

Malbex's face did not flinch, nor did he even twitch when a stray spell crashed into the wall beside him and shattered some of the windows.

The king marched towards him, his huge body shaking with rage. "I'll have you banished to the outskirts of the country for this –! _Agh!" _Shadows quickly swarmed him, cutting off his speech and circling around him with such speed that he could only catch glimpses of the son that still stood, staring at him. "You did this all because you're not the Crown Prince?!"

Still, Malbex did not answer.

"_Curse you!_" the king roared violently, straining to grope for the man through the cloaks of the Shadows. But as his thick-fingered hand reached for him, Malbex turned and walked away. "_You filthy traitor!"_

_ It couldn't have been easier for him. All he had to do was offer the Shadows the same thing that he wanted._

Morbex tumbled and rolled onto the floor and crashed into a pillar with a loud grunt.

_Freedom._

"A-ah…"

He shifted onto his back and grasped his side. His head pounded with the force of an earthquake and his lungs heaved for the air that had been lost to him in the depths of the Shadow. It had transported him somewhere…but where?

Painfully he opened his eyes and peered through foggy vision to observe the area he had been thrown into. Almost immediately, he recognized it as the throne room.

His gaze then dropped from the dome glass as a sudden, heavy thickness caused the hairs on his nape to stand on end. Grunting, he forced himself up and leaned against the pillar that had so rudely injured him. As soon as he had, his entire body went rigid.

Shadows consumed the entire hall, the black mist that curled about their feet swiveling and coiling into the air. Some of them even hovered above, their black eye sockets peering down at him with greedy intent. Despite his paralysis, Morbex managed to clench a fist at his side and the syllables of an incantation began to form in his mind.

But just as he made to voice the spell a pair of feet clopped against the marble floor and the black fog parted, revealing a noticeably pale visage. Morbex's heart leaped.

"Malbex!" he gasped, and the man stepped closer to him, his face all but reassuring. "What are you…? I heard you'd gone to the caves, but –" His voice stopped when another being stepped into view, and his eyes widened. "Miss Alexandria!" He then glanced around at the Shadows again in understanding. "I see…so this is what you went to the caves for. Where is Tentra?"

"He's off taking care of something for me." Malbex stopped in the very center of the circle of Shadows, and Alexandria halted close to him. Morbex bared his teeth and gripped his throbbing side tighter.

"Don't you realize what you're doing?" he burst. "You've led an attack on the entire palace, your own home! An act like this can lead to banishment, you must know that! You need to stop this, now!"

"The attack has stopped," Malbex replied quietly. "As soon as you were brought here. Treatments for those rendered unconscious are already underway."

"Then why –"

A black dot appeared above Malbex and Alexandria's heads, expanding and stretching to grow into the size of a dark cloud. Then it bulged ominously and a dark-haired head squeezed out of it, gasping for breath.

Cringing at the grotesque sight, Morbex pressed his back against the pillar as the rest of the person's body pushed out of the fog and landed in front of him with a loud grunt.

Choking and sputtering against the floor, Kelvis rolled onto his stomach and clutched his throat as air rushed his lungs. With shaking arms he hoisted himself up, but his back arched with another abrupt intake of breath and his elbows buckled to sustain him.

"This was nothing more than a distraction," Malbex informed his brother stoically, "to bring you here. After all, I need your help – both of you."

Kelvis finally gained the strength to look up and his dark eyes struggled to focus on Malbex's face. When he spoke, his words came out in a pant, "What's…going on…?"

"Have you ever wanted to know what would happen if the Pact were to be broken?" Malbex inquired. "What would occur…if Eldonis were to grow tired of living in the Shadows?"

Kelvis dropped his head and released a breathless cough.

"There's an entire world out there," Malbex went on, "a world that you yourself have come from. But after stumbling in on Eldonis, you could never go back to it. You are trapped. Just like the rest of us.

"Have you never wanted to go back? Have you never wished it undone?"

Kelvis paused and looked back at him.

"There is a way to avoid the consequences of betrayal," Malbex finished.

Morbex hesitated uncertainly. "How?"

"Eons ago, the gods left a trace of their power in their wake after creating the world," Malbex explained. "An ancient relic, though not divine, that could grant whoever owned it a wish, and power over everything."

"A wish?" Morbex's thoughts whirred, connecting bits of information to draw an assumption. "…You don't mean to wish the Pact void? But going out to find something like that would endanger the country! It's too dangerous!"

"You're half-right. And perhaps by myself it would be. But with a guide…" He lowered his eyes to Kelvis, whose black gaze narrowed.

"Like hell," he growled, rising to his feet. "I may not be too familiar with this place, but I'm not selfish enough to go risking other peoples' lives just for my own ends!"

"This is for the liberation of my people," Malbex fired back. "Selfishness plays no part – without taking a chance and leaving here, the Fenri will be locked behind the mountain ranges forever! It's no different from the punishment the Twili received!

"But the item I need…" He paused and clenched a fist. "It's already broken into three parts, with one lost somewhere in the world. And the other two…are kept within the bodies of two others."

"Then your plan won't work," Kelvis concluded firmly, "if someone else has the pieces."

"No…" The prince shook his head with a short laugh. "You really know nothing of the Fenri, do you? Just because what I want is entwined with another's soul, doesn't mean I can't get it."

Kelvis stared at him confusedly, as did Morbex. But then horror befell the latter's face and he pushed against the pillar behind him as he rose to his feet.

"No, you can't mean –"

"As smart as they say you are." Malbex's head tilted to the side, a playful smile still tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yes…by using the advanced power of the Fenri, separating their souls from the relic they carry will be a small task."

"Malbex, that's the same as killing them!" Morbex burst indignantly. "You can't – even if it is for the sake of this country! And if the goddesses were the original owners of the power that you speak of, then that means they willed for those people to carry it! Tearing it apart could completely disrupt everything that they created!"

"That settles it, then." Kelvis' scruffy hair began to blow in a quiet wind. "Ideals or no, your goals are nothing more than a self-centered dream."

The words had left his tongue for barely over a second when a strong gale erupted around him, bowling into Malbex and Alexandria and ramming into the surrounding Shadows, forcing them back.

Morbex bowed his head and blocked his face with an arm. He himself had taught Kelvis only a few of the basics of wind magic, and found it incredible how strong he actually was.

But there was no time to admire his pupil now. Malbex was distracted; this was his chance.

He could use one spell: if he could just catch Malbex's eye, he'd be able to twist his will and make it so that he could not follow through with his insane idea.

_But…_

Fighting against the windstorm that willed to hold him down, he staggered to his feet and lowered his arm, his cherry eyes darkening.

_I made a slight miscalculation._

Malbex, too, dropped his arms and spotted Morbex just as he made to look at him. Noticing the dimming of his irises, he looked away and quickly conjured up a wind to beat Kelvis'. The hurricane force crashed into his adversary and as Kelvis was knocked back Morbex's eyes instinctively followed to ensure that he was all right.

_I was desperate, and didn't understand the spell._

Kelvis hastily maintained his balance, and for an instant his eyes met Morbex.

_I didn't mean to._

Low murmurs washed into Kelvis' mind with their eye contact, rising into a ringing buzz that screamed in his thoughts. Yelling in torture, he clutched the sides of his head and keeled over.

"Kelvis!" Morbex lunged towards him and his eyes reverted to their natural hue. But just as he moved towards him, something pulled him to the ground. The force of his impact on the floor reverberated throughout the rest of his body and he lay there for a moment, aching and disoriented. In front of him, Kelvis crumbled to the ground.

Morbex struggled to push himself off the floor and shook his head, clearing it of dizziness. Panic rising, he looked up at the fallen Kelvis and then turned to see his brother, whom by now had a hand extended towards him. Sparks of light were snapping and popping around his fingertips, and with a succession of sparks and cracks they darted and rammed into Morbex's body.

The prince screamed out when the attack connected and his limbs convulsed, leading him to writhe and twist in his spot on the floor. Clawing at his chest his eyes squinched and his voice grew to devour the entire chamber; thoughts spilled into disorder; something crushed the sides of his skull –

He could barely see anything beyond the tears that blinded him, barely hear anything above his own, howling voice. The feel of the ground swam and fell around him, and fire seared his insides with relentless ferocity.

And then his world furred and went black.

Tentra slipped out of one of the palace halls and rushed down to the throne room, then dodged inside. There he maneuvered through the crowd of Shadows until meeting up with Malbex and Alexandria in the middle. Lying on the ground before them was Kelvis, and just across from him a small imp, his skin a mysterious blue and silver hair hanging over his child-like face.

Without voicing an inquiry, Tentra extended his hand to Malbex and uncurled his fingers, revealing a clear stone embedded into a golden wristlet.

_When I had awoken again, nothing was the same…_

Morbex's eyes fluttered open, staring groggily at the ground that seemed to shift and sway beneath him. Then memories returned to him and his eyes widened; in a blind panic he attempted to sit up only to find out that he had been tossed over someone's shoulder, and their hand was pinned against his back.

With a grunt he tried to break free, only to have the world swim before his eyes yet again. He moaned pitifully and then, with great effort, craned his neck to look at who was carrying him.

"K-Kelvis…?" he half-whispered.

But his friend gave no response and came to an abrupt halt, then dumped the boy onto the ground in front of him. After recovering from the sudden drop, Morbex looked back up at him, and his heart sank.

It _was _Kelvis – but his dark eyes stared down at him vacantly, emotionlessly.

_The spell I'd used was meant to make people disagree with themselves: Kelvis had strongly disapproved of Malbex's plan. But after what I'd done…_

Kelvis then stepped aside, and Malbex approached his cursed brother, smirking knowingly.

"I hadn't planned for this," he said, as Morbex inched back, "but it worked out fine in the end. Wouldn't you say?"

_Kelvis began to work for Malbex._

Morbex's cherry, pleading eyes moved from Malbex's face to Kelvis.

_I had…betrayed him. And now…_

Malbex stepped back out of the small room and closed the door, sealing Morbex in darkness.

_…He doesn't even remember who I am._

Morbex's small, trembling body curled up in a corner of the closet, and his long ears twitched as his brother's voice issued through the door.

"The Shadows have already been dispatched to the countries surrounding the land that the Triforce is said to dwell," he was informing his allies, "where they will remove the rulers from their positions. In the meantime, I will observe Hyrule myself and find the Triforce's location.

"I'll use it to wish the Pact into oblivion…" he pumped a fist at his side, "then create a nation for Eldonis to control. My father will finally learn that I, too, can lead a people. And the Fenri will no longer need to live in hiding."

_For a long time, he only watched the outer world from his hideout. Soon he learned the names of the wielders and instructed Alexandria to frame the one who was the leader of Hyrule, and bring her to him._

_ But it didn't work, and he went to take care of things himself._

Blue light erupted in the interior of the small closet, zigzagging and zipping around its perimeter before stopping to rip at the very air around it. Morbex released a shaky breath, and his shadowed eyes opened to observe the portal now hovering inches away from him.

_I escaped not too much later to stop him. But my body was too weak, and I fell into this village._

_ I couldn't leave, so I hoped that you would return one day, before Malbex got to you._

"…Fortunately, you did."

Morbex looked up at Link as dawn's light began to stream in through the sunroof, filling the entire home with pale pink light.

Link said not a word, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Malbex…" Morbex looked to Renée, waiting for her to continue. "Is after the wielders of the Triforce? And it sounded like you were saying Link was one of them…" She looked at the Hyrulean, then down at his left hand. "Then, all along, you…"

Morbex nodded solemnly then looked in between her and Brent as Katrina advanced towards their small circle. Somewhere behind her, the heads of Dijonay and Mekial also rose into view. They stood to approach, and at the same time Katrina's jade eyes narrowed and her arms folded across her chest.

"You didn't think it'd be important to say anything?" Brent challenged darkly, turning his attention to Link.

Link dropped his hand and let out a heavy sigh. "The Triforce is my burden," he began. "I'd thought that this would all be over before I would have to say anything."

"Then, you thought wrong." Brent straightened out his staff and faced him fully, drawing Link's reluctant eyes. "Like I told Sheik: we're pretty much involved. All of us. The longer I'm here in Hyrule the more I realize what's real and what's legend…and now, I know that it's not just a myth when people say the Triforce can be a part of someone. The only thing I want to know," his copper gaze narrowed, "is how you got it."

"I don't know how I got it," Link answered honestly, "and I don't know why. All I do know is that it's caused enough trouble for me for more than a lifetime."

"…How so? It's a divine relic, isn't it?"

"It's not divine," Link replied simply, recalling the words Zelda had spoken to him so long ago. "It's just an object that's a shard of the gods' strength. It can't tell right from wrong, good from bad…" He frowned thoughtfully. "I think it's just used to keep balance in the world. And if it's disturbed, like it was hundreds of years ago, then that balance is tipped."

"Tipped?" Renée echoed.

"Yeah…" Brent's blue eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the ground, collecting lost memories. "The Triforce was left in a certain place, and could only be picked up by someone that was worthy. If they were, balance wouldn't be affected – if they weren't, then it would. Someone unworthy did get to it, and ever since that happened, back during what history calls the Imprisoning War, the Triforce was never whole again. One piece was constantly moving through the royal family…another was locked away with the man that had disturbed the Triforce in the first place, and the last one…" He looked back at Link. "Well, we know where it is now.

"And Malbex does, too, apparently."

"Forgive me." All heads turned to Dijonay. "I heard what you all were talking about: Malbex plans to extract the Triforce of Courage from Link's body. But if that is true, then why has he not done anything?"

"It doesn't make sense to me, either." Renée dropped her eyes to the small imp. "If he has that Seeker thing, he should've been able to capture Link anytime he wanted."

Katrina took a step forward, her sharp eyes bearing down on the blue-skinned child before them. "You said earlier that you wanted to join us, but you're related to Malbex. How do we know you're not working for him right now, waiting for a moment to catch us off guard and get us out of his way?"

Morbex did not reply immediately. Instead his red eyes softened with sadness and moved to stare at the flickering flame in the lantern.

"I can understand your reasoning," he said finally. "To meet, greet and possibly work together with a relative of your enemy can be…unsettling." His gaze returned to Katrina's, matching her firm glare. "But I can assure you: I do _not _have any intention of betraying you. I only want to help you stop him."

He broke eye contact with Katrina and looked to the others. "By breaking the Pact, Malbex's actions have already started to affect the world. It's only a matter of time before things start to worsen, and there's no telling what the goddesses will do if this continues. But I do know that the blame will be put on all of the people of Eldonis. Whether you believe me or not, I'm doing this because I want to protect my country. Even if that means siding against blood."

He looked between each of them, his crimson eyes aflame with genuine determination, and they all exchanged grim looks with another as they paused in thoughtful debate.

"Well, there's no reason for him to be lying to us," Mekial pointed out after a silent moment, and he looked at the older members of his group. "His own brother cursed him, after all."

"I can't say I don't agree with you," Brent said. "I can't figure out a reason for him to be lying either."

"I don't like it," Katrina grumbled. "You're all a bit too trusting for me."

"Well, I agree with Mek," Renée said, looking at her younger brother.

"I, too." Dijonay nodded.

Link sheathed his sword. "Gaining Katrina's trust will take time…"

"…Katrina, think about it." Renée looked at the scowling Corvenian. "It all matches up with what Sheik told us: Alexandria impersonated the princess because Malbex told her to. And now, she's taken over the castle because Malbex wants to control some territory outside of Eldonis for the Fenri to control. And back at the Goron Mines the patriarch told us that the surrounding countries' leaders have suddenly gone missing; Morbex says that Malbex and the Shadows are behind that. So everything connects. There's nothing to be suspicious of."

Katrina's shoulders stiffened and she ran Renée's words through her mind a series of times before easing her posture. She let out a dark sigh and, knowing her doubts had been defeated, Renée looked back to the circle.

"Looks like she gave in," Brent noted. "Nice work."

Renée shrugged. "She just needs facts."

"Then it's settled," Link confirmed, looking at Morbex. "You can join us; and we'd appreciate any other information you can give us."

Morbex nodded and his body relaxed. "Yes."

_I will atone for my carelessness with this._

Malbex's face flashed in his mind.

_And you for your treachery._


	66. Chapter 65

**Chapter Sixty-Five**

"Then we welcome Morbex to the group!" Mekial exclaimed with a wide grin. "It's nice to finally have someone my age to travel with. My name's Mekial!"

Morbex let out a soft laugh. "It's nice to meet you, Mekial. But you should know that I'm older than I look."

While Mekial stared at the boy in befuddlement, Link moved to lean against the kitchen wall and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his tired mind recounting Morbex's tale piece-by-piece until he believed he at least had a rough understanding of what he and his allies were truly up against.

"If what Morbex said is true," he finally started, his eyes distant, "then that means that Kelvis isn't our enemy."

"You mean the guy that you, Mekial and Dijonay fought back in Arkania?" Brent piped up.

Link nodded.

"The start of our adventure," Mekial mused, plopping onto the floor.

"You've all met Kelvis, too?" Morbex rounded on each of them, his eyes wide with surprise and even a hint of relief. His gaze then dropped to the group's young mage as he nodded his head.

"He's really tough."

"Is there any way to snap Kelvis out of whatever trance he's in?" Link's voice attracted the imp's red-eyed attention. "If we run into him again, it'd make things a lot easier."

"I don't really understand the details," Morbex answered regretfully, "but his memory loss is probably due to the tampering done to his mind. Being in the state that I'm in, I wouldn't even be able to try and reverse it."

Link let out his breath and began to rack his brain for another solution, his eyes once again falling to the floor in deep thought.

"Why would Malbex do this to you?" Dijonay inquired, examining Morbex from where she stood. "What does he mean to do with you?"

"As to that, I don't know either." Morbex shook his head hopelessly. "I can only guess that he didn't want me to interfere with his plans."

"…You said that Malbex has a hideout, right?" Renée spoke up. "Well, if we find _it_, we find _him_, don't we? So we could just sneak in there when he's least expecting it and stop him then!"

"His hideout isn't in this realm," Morbex responded flatly, making the Arkanian's face fall. "I didn't see much of it, but from what I could see, there was hardly any solid ground – it was just a twilit dimension filled with floating isles and buildings." Behind him, Link looked up as a vague memory of a similar world appeared in his mind.

"So if it's not here," Renée scratched her head, "where is it?"

"I managed to catch glimpses of the people that were there," Morbex replied. "They looked a lot like the portraits of the Twili found in Eldonis; based on that, my guess is that Malbex's hideout is in the Twilight Realm."

"I thought so…" Morbex's eyes turned to Link incredulously. "But how did Malbex get there?"

"Tentra gave him a stone known as a Grell," Morbex explained. "To us, it's a forbidden way of transportation, and allows the user to go wherever he or she wants. Depending on the distance, the Grell will take some magic from the user to get to the destination."

"Huh." Brent rubbed his head. "So even though you guys have that Pact, you made that stone?"

"The Pact is an agreement between the Fenri and the gods saying that we won't spread our knowledge to the Outside," Morbex said, looking at him. "The Grell was actually designed by the ancestors of the Twili, but they lost it when they were banished. The Fenri that use it simply travel to the Outside to take knowledge back to Eldonis. But now Malbex has decided to take that to the next level…"

The imp then looked at Link, calling him and thus drawing the man's eye. "Maybe it was my imagination," the boy started, "but it sounded to me like you know a bit about the Twilight Realm."

To this Link hesitated, but then let out his breath in a grim sigh. It was only a matter of time before he would have had to bring up the quest he had gone on in the year previous. But he supposed that it was like Brent had said: the ones that he had been traveling with in the past few months were involved in this entire predicament just as much as he was. If anything, they at least deserved to know what he had gone through before he had met them.

So, keeping his story short but concise, Link described his encounter with the ruler of the Twili, Midna, and of his hunt for the Fused Shadows, which she needed in order to stop a usurper king from spreading his reign across the Twilight Realm and into this world.

As memories of the adventure resurfaced, he realized that he had not thought of the people he had met during that time in a long while. There was even a part of him that wondered if he would ever see Midna again.

But in the next instant he sent the thought away. There was no possibility of reuniting with the queen of twilight: she had destroyed the gateway that connected their worlds. It was foolhardy to even hope for such a thing.

As he concluded with his victory against Ganondorf, a heavy silence fell to replace the timbre of his voice, pressing into every space and corner of the room until dashed by the creak of Mekial shifting on the floor.

"Amazing," Morbex breathed. "You actually _met _the Twili…"

"That Zant guy almost sounds like Malbex," Brent grunted, and then looked at their new ally. "No offense."

Morbex shook his head.

"And you killed the warlock that all of Arkania's records speak of, the one who was the cause for the Great Flood!" Dijonay exclaimed. "That is…incredible!"

"All right, so Link's met Morbex's distant cousins and killed a maniac that caused a flood." Katrina shrugged off the cloud of excitement with little more than a dull tone. "What does that have to do with our situation now?"

"Well, when you think about it, isn't Link's business from last year what gave Malbex the push he needed to start what he's doing?" Brent pointed out. "Not like we can change that, but it was Link's historic fight against Ganondorf that helped start this. Not that it's your fault," he added, looking at Link.

"Can we go over everything as a whole?" Mekial asked, looking about the group. "Just to keep track of everything. This is a lot to remember…"

"That's fine," Link conceded, pushing off of the wall. "Let's lay everything out and start with what we know: first, we pretty much know that Alexandria is impersonating the princess and has the castle under control for Malbex, and according to Sheik, the soldiers have sided with her. We also know that the real Princess Zelda is missing."

"M-missing?" Morbex's heart sank at this new information and he looked between the faces of his new traveling companions fearfully.

"We were told by a trustworthy man we met in the capital only yesterday," Dijonay informed the child, her own face furrowing with despair at the thought of Sheik. She wondered how he was faring, and if he was presently carrying out the duty he had mentioned before disappearing from their sight. "He did not divulge anything on her whereabouts, so we were left to assume this."

"I don't think she's in danger, though," Link reassured the imp, once again attracting his attention. "It was weird, but it's almost like I could feel her nearby when Sheik was talking to us. And it's like a sixth sense right now. I can't explain it well, but I get the feeling she's all right."

Morbex only regarded him with an expression drowned with worry and turned his gaze away, wondering if Link's simple intuition were as reliable as he made it sound.

There was the possibility that Princess Zelda were in Malbex's hands at that very moment, getting her soul torn out for his selfish means. He trembled at the thought of it and shook the image away, finding himself distractedly placing a small bit of faith into Link's previous statement. But at the same time, his mind could not find complete peace in it.

"We also know that the Triforce of Power is split into four pieces," Link continued darkly, drawing Morbex out of his displeasing thoughts, "and that I have the Triforce of Courage and that Princess Zelda has Wisdom.

"The shards of Power are in four different places: one was in the underwater ruins of Talis back in Arkania. The second one was in the mines." As he spoke he pulled a rolled up piece of parchment out of his bag and spread it out on the floor.

"The third one is supposed to be in the forest near here, which is where we are," he added, pointing to the southernmost tip of Hyrule, "and the last one is in the arctic mountains up north." His fingertip slid across the paper to tap against the mountain range at the top.

"That's far," Mekial mumbled.

"But even though Malbex knows where the shards are, the only trouble we received from him was when we went to get the one in Talis." Dijonay kneeled down in front of the map and looked at her Hyrulean comrade. "Shadows were already in the mines, but they could not have stolen the shard even if they had wanted to."

"The Shadows are probably just wandering around now," Morbex interrupted seriously. "In exchange for working with him, Malbex has given them the opportunity to find a new place to hide out in. They particularly like caves, so I'm not surprised that they were in a mine."

"Then it's safe to assume that Malbex either didn't know where that shard was, or he didn't want to get it." Link stared down at the map, lost in his world of thoughts. "The forest we're headed to," he muttered after a moment. "I've been there before, and it's not an easy place to maneuver. Pretty easy to get lost, actually. No matter how smart Malbex appears to be, he wouldn't be able to get through it."

"Then we have an advantage." Brent looked from the map to Link. "Right?"

"So it seems."

"How did you get through?" Dijonay asked.

"I don't know what it was." Link folded his arms and leaned away from the map. "It looked like some kind of scarecrow. It was running around the woods like it was taunting me, but at the same time it was leading me to some ruins that I was looking for. A while later some friends of mine – the same people I went looking in Arkania for – had gone through there to find the ruins that I'd visited. But that little imp didn't show up, and they get lost pretty badly before they were able to stumble in on it."

"Then the imp picks who it wants to help?" Mekial asked, frowning quizzically.

"So it _is_ safe to say that we might have an advantage with this one," Brent figured.

"Safe, but I'm not sure we can count on it." Link rubbed his chin, once again recounting the events of Morbex's story. "There's still the issue of Malbex's Seeker. With it, he can find out pretty much anything. He probably listened in on Telma and the others while they were talking to the Sages, where he learned what happened to the Triforce of Power. And since he's working with Tentra…" Puzzle pieces clicked in the man's mind, leading him to a solid conclusion that nearly made him want to yell with indignation. "That must be how he does it: Malbex uses that Seeker to keep track of where I am, then has Tentra frame me…!"

"Like Sheik said," Renée recalled softly. "Tentra framed you as a traitor to the princess. He probably framed you for the attack on the capital, too. Maybe even the Isle Massacre –" She cut off and looked at Katrina, whose eyes were cast to the side in muted, stupefied horror.

"Isle Massacre?" Morbex echoed with a mix of confusion and concern.

"A while ago there was a genocide on the independent isles just southeast of the country we're from." As Brent spoke, his face darkened. "Hundreds of people were killed in a single night, at the hands of a man that looked like Link along with an army of black monsters."

Morbex looked on at Brent sorrowfully, his mind easily figuring who had been behind the terrible act. He cast his eyes to the floor, and then lifted them at the sound of Katrina's voice.

"Did your brother mention the Corva Isles at all?" Though she addressed him her eyes were locked on the lantern, a painful sorrow swimming in their green depths.

"…I overheard." Morbex looked away shamefully. "He found out that a piece of the Triforce was in the country of Arkania and figured that, as a wielder, Link would go to find it. So he selected the Corva Isles because it was conveniently close to the shard, and told Tentra to frame Link as a murderer. Malbex also said he would inform the prime minister of Link's arrival and request that he arrest Link on the grounds that he's a mass-murderer. Then Link would be held in captivity for him, and Malbex would go and take his piece of the Triforce away."

As his explanation drew to a close, Katrina's eyes fell away from the lantern and fixed onto a dark corner of the room, bangs falling across her steadily crumbling visage.

"So that was really it, then." Dijonay clutched the fabric of her dress. "That was why he came to me."

Morbex glanced up curiously and, noticing this, Mekial inclined his head to the girl. "Prime Minister."

Morbex's eyes widened fleetingly.

"In the end, Malbex is determined to get the shards," Brent concluded, "and our goal remains the same: we have to get the shards before he does. Then put them…" He paused and frowned, then looked at Link. "Put them where?"

"The Sages are the ones who wanted the shards of Power to be found in the first place," Link answered quietly. "So bringing the shards to them would probably be best."

"Oh. And where are they?"

"The desert."

Brent's face fell instantly. "Fun."

"Well, we need to get it done." Renée stretched with a long yawn. "And we've been with Link up to this point. We might as well help him finish it." She gave the Hyrulean an encouraging nod.

"Thanks." Link looked around at all of them in appreciation. "For all your help."

In reply he was given supportive smiles and nods, then Renée suppressed another yawn. "Well, we've got a plan now…so I'm going back to bed."

Link peered out of the window behind her, where pale sunlight streamed inside to spot the floorboards. "Already a bit past sunrise…we should all get a bit of rest then, and we'll head out at noon."

"Ah, finally. Man, I'm beat…" Renée walked back over to her blanket and stuffed her sword into its sheath, then slipped beneath the covers and curled up for more rest.

"I, too, will go back to bed." Dijonay rose from the floor and dusted off her dress, then moved back to her resting place. Mekial followed suit.

"I'll stay up." Brent plucked the map up off the floor. "Can't get back to sleep after all that. You don't mind me looking at this for a bit?" Link shook his head and the Hylian walked away, and then seated himself at the dining table.

Morbex looked between Link and Katrina, holding his tongue for a moment and looking off to the side. Then, he returned his attention to their faces and his lips parted to speak. Yet before a single syllable could even manage to leave him Katrina took it upon herself to make a statement, her voice eerily hollow.

"Your brother," she uttered lowly, her head bowed and fists clenched, "is _terrible_." Before the eyes of Link and the newest addition to their group, her body began to shake, fighting to contain the fury mounting within. "And that Tentra is even more of a monster." Her fists tightened, leading her nails to claw into her palms and send bites of unregistered pain through her limbs. "They took everything from me – in one night."

Morbex's heart lurched and his forehead creased with instant understanding. Link remained silent.

"I don't care who they are to you." Katrina took a single step forward and despite her shortness towered over the Eldonese prince, hatred bubbling from the core of her being to glower down at him. "I don't care if it hurts you. And I don't care if you'll hate me for it. But the day I meet them, I will kill them both."

Morbex did not voice a reply, and he watched as Katrina circled to face Link. "I was wrong to suspect you." The weighty words formed a lump in her throat and she swallowed to better hide the angry tears threatening to flood from her eyes. As a result, her next phrase came across sharp, tight and forced, "I apologize."

Without waiting for a response she spun on her heel and stalked away. Morbex watched her quietly, and then looked up at Link.

"Malbex has disgraced Eldonis," he said, his shoulders stiffening. "And I know that the day is coming where he'll have to pay for everything he's done." His eyes tightened and he, too, left Link's presence.

Link watched him leave out of the corner of his eye, and then headed upstairs to prepare supplies for the next leg of their trip. He had been there for little less than half an hour gathering items before he reentered the kitchen to search for food that could be preserved for packing. There, he opened up a cabinet and quickly closed it, then opened it once more to see if his mind had properly registered the fact that it was empty.

"…Great."

"Problem?" Brent tore his eyes from the map to see Link in the kitchen.

"We need more supplies," the Hyrulean answered as he exited the area. "I haven't been here in a while, so there's not much to take with us. But my village is right around the corner. I can head there and get some things."

Morbex, who had been standing near the window and looking out over the mountainous terrain, perked up at Link's announcement and offered to accompany him. "Since I'll be leaving this place, I feel I should probably say goodbye to everyone," he added.

_Goodbye…_

Briefly, Link's mind dragged him back to the moment he had departed Ordon Village many months prior without even a single word. He wondered what the inhabitants would think of him now, suddenly showing up and asking for their aid.

But he chose not to linger on such a topic, knowing that it would only hold him back from what he knew needed to be done; whether they would help him or not would be their decision, he could respect that. He could only hoped that their choice would be in his favor.

"That's fine." He made his way to the door and gripped the handle. "We'll be back later," he called to Brent as he opened the door.

"Yep." Brent's eyes fell back to the map and Link stepped out into the bright early morning with Morbex in tow, and then pulled the door shut behind them.

Their short journey to the village was silent, neither of the two voicing a query or statement to the other. Birds twittered from their posts in nearby trees to shatter the quiet, and chipmunks looked down from hills at the return of the ranch hand, cocking their heads before skittering off to their regular business.

As he walked Link let his eyes flicker to the sides of the bending road that led to the village, eyeing familiar plants and wildlife and inhaling the forest scent he had grown up with. Though he had been aware that one of the shards was close to home, he was not completely prepared for the fact that he would have to show his face in the village again so soon. Regrets swam through him, and he found himself predicting the reactions the villagers would have when they saw him.

Then the faintest tap of a foot pressing into the dirt somewhere ahead snatched his attention, ending his attempt at gazing into the future. His own footsteps slowed and Morbex peered at the corner the road bent around in an effort to spot who was approaching.

The advancing feet continued to tread through the dirt, slowly, leisurely, and then their owner came into view, her eyes fixed on the ground and a tray of what looked like a fulfilling breakfast held in her grasp. Morbex eased to a halt and beside him Link did the same.

Sensing a presence, the young woman looked up then gasped audibly, sucking in so much air that she bounced on her feet and the tray toppled out of her hands, littering its contents across the ground.

Morbex looked at it regretfully, then turned his eyes back to Illia, whose eyes were now intently focused on the Hylian standing beside him. When she spoke, her voice was barely above that of a whisper.

"Y-you… You came…" She took an awkward step closer and her knee locked, as if too afraid to draw any nearer. "…Came back…"

Hearing a shift of movement Morbex's eyes darted to Link and he watched silently as the man stepped forward, closing the distance that sat between he and his childhood friend. But when Illia released a quiet whimper he stopped, his expression pained, and he waited for her to move next.

With a choked sob and an abrupt rising of her hand, Illia slammed her palm against his cheek with enough force to send his face flying sideways. Morbex cringed as the air rang with a heavy _slap_, and even back inside Link's house Brent peeked out of the window before dismissing the odd sound and returning his eyes to the map.

Caressing his stinging cheek Link refaced his assailant, cerulean gaze cast to the side. He had predicted this – and he could not blame her. If anything, he figured that if his sudden absence did not hurt the village children, it would tear Illia apart the most. He grimaced on the inside as an icy guilt washed over him: for hurting her, one of his dearest friends, he deserved much more than a smack across the face.

"You didn't say _anything_!" Illia raged, struggling to keep her voice from shaking. Her face quickly reddened but she held in her tears. "Nothing at all! Don't you know how worried we all were? How scared everyone was…we didn't think you'd…we didn't know if you'd…" She sniffed and curled her fingers into a fist, then sent it crashing into Link's shoulder; balling her other hand she pounded at his chest, then proceeded to beat at any other part of the man she could reach. "You're such an _idiot, _Link! A hopeless, reckless, stupid, _idiot_!"

Link did nothing to stop her as she attacked him, hurling every insult she could think of with each strike. Beside him Morbex watched in quiet stupor, his single, visible red eye wide. In all of his time in Ordon he had not thought that Illia was capable of such anger.

Though now that his mind lingered on it, he had noticed the hurt look that would cross her face whenever someone uttered Link's name. He supposed that the sorrow from his disappearance had simply weighed down on her and now, finally, willed for escape.

Illia's shoulders suddenly heaved and her furious punches died; her body went slack and she fell against Link's chest with a rattling wail, her tears soaking into his shirt.

After a short moment Link lifted his hands and gingerly placed them on his friend's shoulders, and at that the girl only cried more, fresh streams rolling down her cheeks at the idea that Link was really here, standing in front of her. This wave of emotion strengthened even more when Link's arms closed around her, drawing her into a tight but comforting embrace. And in that position he waited patiently for her weeping to subside.

"I'm sorry." Illia wrapped her arms around his waist, her head still buried in his shirt as he spoke. "I should have said something."

With one final sniff Illia broke free of his hold, standing back to take in his whole appearance. It might have been her imagination, but she believed him to be taller than when she last saw him. His hair was also messier than usual and somewhere in the depths of his eyes there was a subtle hint of exhaustion and immense fatigue, as if a heavy burden were pressing down on him.

"But you're back now." She wiped her eyes. "Where have you…where did you go?" Her eyebrows crinkled and Link feared that she would break into tears once more. "Why did you leave?"

Link faltered momentarily, searching his mind for an explanation of everything that he had gone through without bringing about panic. His eyes slid over to Morbex, then returned to her face and he sighed. "I was called away by order of the princess to leave the country for a bit," he confessed. "She wanted me to find someone."

Illia pouted and her arms tensed, preparing to hit him again. "The _princess_? Princess Zelda told _you_? Why didn't she just get a knight?"

"I couldn't tell you," Link shook his head remorsefully. "It might have something to do with…" He suddenly trailed off, his mind briefly lingering on the birthmark on the backside of his left hand. "…Never mind."

Illia's body relaxed, but she continued to watch Link concernedly. "Well, I want to hear everything. I don't want to be left in the dark like this, not knowing where you are or how you're doing…" Her voice lowered, "Just like last year…"

Link rubbed the back of his neck, looking away shortly before refocusing on the girl, whose anxious gaze depicted the eagerness she felt for his next words.

"It's a long story," he started carefully, dropping his hand from his head. "But, basically, Princess Zelda summoned me to leave the country and bring some people back – she thought they were getting involved in something they wouldn't understand."

"What something?" Illia pressed, unwilling to settle for this answer.

"…This." Link raised his left hand, the palm facing him, and let Illia study the faint mark that was there. She frowned.

"Your birthmark?"

"That's what I thought it was, too." Link lowered his hand. "But I've realized lately, that it's bigger than that. And right now, there's something else about it that I need to take care of."

"What?"

Link held his tongue, silently rewording his next words before voicing it to his companion. "I'm sorry," he uttered finally. "But I can't say more than that."

Rather than give in to this information the girl's anger remounted, settling across her face in an offended frown. "Why not?"

But to her resentment, Link did not voice another word.

Illia's front of displeasure fell away as the silence thickened and she loosed her shoulders, her eyes suffocating in reluctant acceptance. "So that's all, then…" She paused, then broke eye contact with Link. "So I'm guessing that whatever you've been doing while you were gone, you're not finished yet." Again Link did not reply, but he looked away dejectedly. "Then why did you come back?"

"…While I was away I met a group of people that are helping me." Illia's eyes snapped back to him.

"People?"

Link nodded. "We've gone through a lot together and they're resting back at my house. Morbex and I came to gather some more supplies before…" he stopped, and then continued, "…before we leave again."

"Oh…" Illia's eyes fell to Morbex, taking notice of his presence for the first time, then moved back to Link. "You're leaving us again." Her voice shook with the last few words of her statement. "And Morbex is going with you?"

"That's right."

"I…I see…" Sniffling, the young woman wiped her eyes, regaining her bearings before feeling ready to go on. "Then…then you should come and see everyone before you go. They've all missed you." She smiled weakly. "Especially Talo."

Link returned the expression warmly. "I will."

Illia nodded then looked down at the spilled remains of what would have been Morbex's breakfast. Remembering how it wound up at her feet she looked back at the boy apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Morbex." She stooped to gather everything back onto the tray. "I'll go and make you some more. I'll try to be quick…"

Without allowing him to answer she stood to her feet and hurried back the way she had come, messy tray in hand. Link waited where he was for a short moment, and then exchanged a brief look with Morbex out of the side of his eye. Then silently, they continued down the road towards Ordon Village.

As they stepped into the familiar community and ventured towards its local shop Link's earlier guilt sagged down on him once more. Yet, just as his and Morbex's feet touched the path that led to the store's entrance, Link's blue eyes moved up the road to find a small being staring at him with their mouth agape. Instantly recognizing the boy's face Link instinctively stopped and, curiously, Morbex paused beside him then followed his lingering gaze.

Standing at the end of the road was Talo and as soon as Morbex met his eyes the boy's hanging jaw clenched into a bright grin. With radiating energy he hollered Link's name, attracting the attention of the other children close by. Within seconds the group was charging towards him, faces shining and arms wide to embrace.

Even as they charged Link's dark feelings of regret departed, and a hesitant but steadily growing ease took its place as the children sprinted closer. Then finally, it solidified into reassurance when they drew near enough to crowd around him, shouting in exuberant glee and firing undecipherable phrases up at him.

And though Link knew that he had most likely deserved the smack Illia had given him, he could not deny his relief that the children had not seen fit to do the same.

* * *

"Gnn…" With the raspy croak of a grunt Renée shifted beneath her blanket, squinting through the morning sun until her dark eyes found Brent at the dinner table. Her gaze then doubled back to what she could see of the tree house, glazing over in confusion when she registered the absence of two faces. "Hey…" Her voice was just as tired as the rest of her body, but with a short cough she cleared it. "Where'd Link and Morbex go?"

Brent looked up as Renée's inquiry pervaded the tranquil atmosphere, and then dropped his eyes back to the map. "Shopping."

"Shopping?"

"Link said his village is just around the corner and that he needed to get some supplies before we set off again. Morbex went with him. They've been gone for a while."

"Oh." Renée rolled onto her side and rubbed her sand-crusted eyes, then craned her neck to look out of the window directly above her: judging from the strength of the sun's lighting, she figured that it had to be at least close to the morning's end. "How come you didn't go?"

"Because of this." Brent sat back and dangled the map in the air, and Renée's sleepy eyes struggled to decipher what was displayed on it. "The map of the fabled country of Hyrule: the dream sanctuary for every Hylian under Arkanian oppression." Brent's eyes returned to the detailed drawing, a distant smile gracing his face. "Sometimes I still can't believe it: that we're actually here, traveling across Hyrule and trying to save it. I mean, I always believed this place was real, but…" He stopped, his smile fading. "No… I think I just hoped that it was." He replaced the item on the table.

Renée rolled onto her stomach and rested the side of her face against her forearms, enabling her to still view Brent's profile. "It is pretty crazy, huh?"

"Yeah…"

Fatigue pressing against her eyelids once more, Renée's eyes closed for a moment, only to reopen a second later as a thought suddenly occurred to her. "…Hey, Brent?"

"Yeah?" His face turned towards her.

"Do you think…" The young woman sat up, pausing momentarily before continuing. "Do you think Dijonay will keep her promise? To free the Hylians, I mean."

"Why wouldn't she?"

"You and I both know the way the Arkanian Empire works: there's not a single place in it that doesn't despise Hylians, and it's the worst in Arkania." Her forehead creased with concern. "Can Dijonay really make the Arkanian province the first to abolish Hylian slavery just because we came along with her?"

Brent diverted his eyes from the girl and let his eyes shift to look at his sibling, whose back was turned to both of them in quiet slumber. "I've been wondering that, too," he said finally. "But I'm sure she already knew what she was doing when she made the offer – she's been taught all of the rules of being prime minister, so she knows the deals that she can and can't make."

Renée dropped her eyes from Brent's face, her expression grave yet dubious at the same time. "It's weird, don't you think? That she would make an offer like that."

"It is. So when you think about how risky it might be for her, she couldn't have been lying, could she?"

Renée looked at him, slightly amazed. "So…you trust her?"

"Honestly, Ren…" Brent looked towards the window, his eyes narrowed. "…I think that's all we can do for now."

Nodding her solemn agreement, Renée rested her head on her arms again and allowed her eyelids to steadily droop over her eyes, carrying her back to sleep. To her dismay she was quickly disturbed by the noise of Brent's chair scraping against the wooden floor, and her eyes snapped open to watch as he crossed the living room space to look out of the window. There, he raised his eyebrows. "Oh. It looks like they're back." He then frowned. "Where'd they get the horse?"

"Huh…?" Although every part of her cried out for more rest Renée dragged herself out of the makeshift bed, then staggered to stand at Brent's side and peer out of the window with him.

There, the two spotted Link and Morbex making their way back to the tree house. As Brent had mentioned there indeed was a horse with them, its silver mane glowing in the sunlight and bags of supplies strapped to its sides. Holding the animal's reins in hand, Link guided it into the center of the clearing before uttering something to Morbex. The boy nodded and took the reins that Link held out to him, and then watched as he approached the ladder leading to his porch.

As the Hyrulean drew nearer Brent stepped away from the window, claiming that they were probably going to be leaving soon. Stifling a yawn Renée followed his lead, making her way to their sleeping comrades in order to wake them for the next leg of their trip. Link entered the tree house shortly after they began this process, and within the next couple of hours they were ready to depart: dressed, armed and their stomachs satisfied with the warm meal Link and Morbex had brought back from the village.

"Part of why we took so long," Morbex had added while they ate. "The villagers wanted to make sure that we were fully prepared."

"Did you tell them what we're doing?" Brent then asked as Mekial had slurped his soup loudly.

"No. It would've been too much to explain," Link replied. "They only know that I'm traveling with a group. But they're aware of things being different around here, especially with the arrival of monsters and the Shadows."

"They've seen the Shadows?" Renée blurted out.

"Rusl was attacked by one the day I left," Link informed her, "and the villagers said one of the kids, Talo, was rescued from one by Morbex." At this the eyes of Link's company fell to the imp in admiration. "Fortunately, they're both okay."

After the mealtime had ended the group proceeded to clean up their space, repacking necessary cooking items into the bags strapped on their new steed. Upon the inquiry of where the horse had actually come from, Link explained that the village ranch hand, Fado, had spotted the creature wandering into the village a couple of months ago, presumably having made her way back after Link had gone into the Gerudo Mesa to fulfill Princess Zelda's orders.

"Her name's Epona," he finished, patting the animal's muzzle.

"It'll definitely lighten the luggage," Brent observed, looking at each of the bags fastened to the equine's back. "Well, this mean we're ready to leave?" His gaze fell on a tree-bordered road by the edge of the clearing. "That path can take us into the forest, right?"

"Yeah." Link took hold of Epona's reins and looked towards the path Brent spoke of then marched towards it. "Let's get going."

But when they reached the start of the trail he took a moment to turn his eyes back to the clearing, standing aside as his company vanished into the shadows of the foliage. For a moment he merely stood there, taking in the sight of his small abode and the road that led to Ordon Village. It was so quiet here, he realized, so peaceful. In a way he missed the calmness of the forest, so much unlike the hectic and crazy adventures he had gone on thus far.

It would not be too long though, he declared in his thoughts, giving Epona's reins a light pull. Soon, he would be back.

He was sure of it.

Link tore his eyes away from the clearing to reface the dark woods, his calm expression reverting to one of resolve, and with soundless determination he stepped into the forest.


	67. Chapter 66

**Chapter Sixty-Six**

Barely an hour had passed before the afternoon sun rose to hang directly over the woods, sending rays of golden light through the massive canopy to spot the grassy floor. Small groups of weak monsters also littered the area, though any that crossed the company's path were taken down without much of an effort. Not a single Shadow was spotted and although most of the party found this to be a relief, Morbex found himself more on the edge.

Ever since he had rescued Talo from the claws of one of those beasts, he had occasionally spotted it on the outskirts of the village, watching him eerily from a distance.

More often than not he went to bed believing he would wake up in the closet of the Twilight Realm the next morning, only to continue awakening to the singing of birds and Link's house. But even so, the Shadow's random appearances worried him – what could it possibly want by observing him from afar? What was it after?

Was it nearby, now, at this very second?

To secure an answer to this question the boy turned around to look behind himself, his eyes sliding over large boulders and overlooks and in between the trees above them. For an instant he thought he saw something move near a crowd of shrubbery at the base of a hill, though it had moved far too quickly for him to even guess what it was.

Staying on high alert, Morbex's eyes continued to pan across the green scenery surrounding him, pausing on strange silhouettes and darting to moving objects, only to identify them as mere forest animals or other harmless critters.

Just as his gaze turned from a monkey leaping through the trees he was forced to halt when Renée stopped in front of him, her body going stiff. Catching himself before he made a collision, the prince leaned to the side to look around her and find the reason for her sudden stop. Upon discovering it, his only visible eye widened and his mouth fell open in astonishment.

For there, encompassing the remainder of the road was a great chasm, filled to its brim with a thick fog that masked the deep bottom. On the opposing end of the great obstacle was what looked to be a natural cave, its black innards masking away any hints of what it led to.

Thinking that they would need to find another route Renée's eyes turned to a path that branched off of the trail they stood on, which lead to a natural bridge that spanned the white abyss and headed towards a dark cavern on the other side. Unable to find an alternate course, she inquired if they were to head in that direction.

But to both her surprise and disbelief, Link declined.

"Where do we go then?" Brent braved a position on the edge of the cliff and peered down its endless face. "It's a dead-end."

"No." Releasing the reins of his horse Link stood at the edge of the abyss as well. "We're here."

Renée instantly felt her eye twitch as understanding befell her. "What?" She pointed rigidly at the gulf and stared at him. "You mean the forest is beyond _that_?!"

"Yeah." Link turned to her, seemingly unfazed by the obvious impossibility of their situation. "Beyond this." He paused. "Might've forgotten about this hole, though…"

"You've gotta be kidding me." Brent looked at him. "How're we supposed to get across this?"

"How did you manage to cross, Link?" Dijonay inquired of the man. "Or is there another way?"

"No, there isn't. As far as I know, anyway." Link's mind dredged up the memory of how he had gotten to the old wood before. "Last time, I flew there with a golden cucco."

A ringing silence then fell across the entire group and everyone stared at him with either unimpressed or disbelieving expressions. Somewhere far off, a choir of crickets sang.

Finally, Katrina stifled a laugh.

"What?" Renée blurted out.

"You're joking," Mekial put in, staring at Link wide-eyed.

"No." Link looked at them. "It sounds weird, I know. But I really did get a ride from a golden cucco." The stares continued. "I didn't trust it at first, either."

"Then why did you?" Mekial pushed.

"There was no other way." Link shrugged. "But I doubt that a golden bird is going to help us this time."

"Cuccos that can carry people across an abyss," Brent shook his head. "This place is nothing like I thought it'd be."

"Flying cuccos aside, how're we supposed to get across?" Katrina interrupted, the ghost of her last smile still lingering across her normally troubled countenance. She stepped towards the edge of the cliff and with a violent flip of her stomach instantly regretted it, staggering away from the horrific height.

"Brent, any ideas?" Renée turned to him.

"…Could Mekial make us some kind of bridge?" The blue-haired Hylian turned to observe the young magic-user, who peeked into the chasm and then to the platform they needed to reach.

"I can't change the shape of natural hills and mountains," he admitted sorrowfully. "It's like an unwritten law for mages across the world. Defies the goddesses and stuff."

"But can you?"

"Nothing this huge. I haven't mastered something like this because, well, we're not allowed to even practice it."

"But you did it in the mine, did you not?" Dijonay interrupted, reminding him of their terrifying fall in the Goron mines' elevator shaft.

"A mine is one thing," Mekial answered, shaking his head. "But this is practically the side of a mountain."

Brent rubbed his chin and refaced the great hole before them, his narrowed eyes picturing an array of possibilities that could enable them passage to the other side. Midway through his silent ponderings he felt an object bump into the side of his head and, rubbing the spot, he rounded on his allies in displeased accusation. But upon reading their similarly perplexed expressions, he was led to conclude that whatever had hit him was not their doing.

Barely had he had the chance to look around for another suspect before another small projectile crashed into him and landed at his feet. Lowering his eyes to it Brent figured it to be some kind of forest nut, then let his gaze scale the surrounding forestry to peer into the branches above and find where it had come from.

Within the next second, he spotted a furry creature staring down at he and his company – in the next it hurled another nut at him and he started when it slammed, dead center, into his forehead.

"Hey!" Instantly his grip tightened on his Bo and with a furrowed brow he attempted to identify what the animal was. Just as he was in the middle of this process the forest-dweller leaped out from the leaves it was hidden behind and onto a bare branch.

Mekial made a face as the animal tilted its head and scratched its left ear. "Is that," he frowned, "a monkey?"

"It looks like the one that was with Talo," Morbex added, taking a step forward. He watched as it started to chatter and jounce the tree limb it stood on. "But it hasn't got a rose."

"What's it doing?" Katrina looked on at the bouncing monkey curiously, tearing her eyes away only when her ears suddenly twitched, tuning into the sound of an approaching being.

Link and Brent heard the noise as well, turning their heads towards an overlook and watching with their allies as the shrubbery jostled and shook, then broke apart as a small group of monkeys crawled out and climbed nearby trunks and branches in an effort to reach their – still shouting – monkey companion.

In befuddled and interested silence the party watched as the monkeys grouped onto the branch with the one that had presumably called them, then raised their brows in questioning when one of the creatures hooked his knees around the branch and leaned back, arms dangling.

Another monkey followed suit and climbed down his hanging body as if it were the rungs of a ladder, then swung down and let his arms dangle while the first monkey clutched his ankles. Another monkey followed suit, climbing down, leaning and dangling, then another, and finally another, until all of the monkeys were hanging from the sturdy tree branch in a monkey chain.

Katrina raised an eyebrow. "What the he –"

Before she could even finish her thought the linked monkeys began to swing back and forth like a vine swaying in a light wind. Katrina's face dropped.

"Oh gods."

"Oh, I get it!" Mekial exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the monkey-vine. "Those're some smart monkeys!"

"How exactly are they _smart_?" Katrina burst, wheeling to face him. "They're hanging from a _tree branch_ and swinging around like they're gonna grab us and drop us on the other side!"

"It works." Both Katrina and Mekial looked at Link, the former appalled and the latter simply inquisitive. "I've tried it."

"Oh, I'm sure you have, Mr. Flying Cucco," Katrina snapped. "And it's perfectly safe, too, I bet."

"They do not truly expect us to leap at them, do they?" Dijonay asked worriedly, drawing a hand to her chest and eyeing the swinging monkeys somewhat distastefully.

"Well, there's no other reason they would do this," Link informed her matter-of-factly, tying Epona's reins around a nearby tree before backing away from the edge of the cliff. "And it's our only choice. That cave on the other side leads to where the next shard is." After saying this he paused, watching the swaying animals closely before bursting into a sprint and leaping off the ledge.

Dijonay's heart skipped to her throat, her arm shooting forward as if she could reach out and snatch Link out of the air. Horror intensifying, she and the others watched, petrified, as Link threw his hands up and for a moment they feared that he would plummet, frozen in that position.

As the Hyrulean steadily dropped, unable to defy the will of gravity, the monkey at the bottom of the line stretched his arm length to the limit, grasping Link's waiting hands and thus saving him from the suicidal leap. The hearts of his allies steadily unclenched when the monkeys swung Link to the other side of the chasm and released him to momentum, which dropped him onto the small jut of land in front of the cave.

Quickly regaining his balance the young man turned to face the adversity he had traversed, then lifted his eyes to the others and cupped his hands by his mouth. "_Now you try_!"

Katrina imitated his pose. "_You're insane_!"

"That is one strong monkey," Renée uttered thoughtfully, craning her neck to look at the animal at the top of the line. "I wonder if he's getting tired yet."

"I'd rather not find out," Brent replied and, backing up the same way Link had, he watched the monkeys carefully and then hotfooted off the cliff to snatch the hands of the bottommost animal. Upon being released to the platform on the other side he paused, stunned by what he had done and surprised that he had not dropped his Bo staff in the process.

Taking a moment to understand that performing this giant leap was necessary in order to continue their quest, the remaining members of the group took turns with crossing the enormous obstacle. Katrina went last, and after landing peered over her shoulder to look back at Epona. Briefly she wondered if the animal would be all right without its master but, when she saw Link making his way towards the cave, she assumed that it would be fine. As such she hustled to follow he and the others into the tunnel.

Being a short passageway, it did not take long before the group emerged on the opposing side. Their feet steadily slowing to a halt, they each examined the new area that they stood in: like the forest they had just been in tall trees stood everywhere, their leafy green canopies nearly obscuring the clear sky and barely permitting any sunlight to shine through. Moss, vines and other greenery grew out from every tree trunk, winding their ways to the top, and the ground was covered with patches of grass, fallen leaves and bare soil. There was no obvious path in sight and in some areas the trees stood so close together that they formed an impassible wall.

Yet in spite of these hindrances the group managed to spot an opening in the mass of wood, leading into another section of the forest. Seeing no other route to weigh it against they advanced, every breath they took heavy with the scent of fresh foliage and each of their steps loud with the snapping of twigs.

Once, Katrina stomped on a rather thick tree limb, causing the quiet air to resonate with a vicious _crack_. She looked down, startled, and barely a split second later heard a faint rumble sound from afar as though responding. Frowning, she looked around the wooded area for the source of the noise and then back at her party: from the looks of it, they had noticed nothing.

"So when does this imp thing appear?" Mekial asked, unaware of the quiet grumble and the way it slowly faded into silence.

"It didn't appear on its own," Link admitted. "I just kind of…whistled a tune I could hear on the wind and it showed up."

Mekial stared at him. "A tune on the wind?"

"Yeah," Link replied distractedly, pausing to look through a dense wall of plant life in search of a way through. "I don't think it'll work a second time, though. But it hasn't been too long since I've last been here, so…"

"You know your way around?"

"Hopefully."

Mekial looked away, making a face. "Was kinda hoping for a 'yes'…"

So it was with hesitation that the foreigners followed Link through the thick forest, climbing over boulders and high-rising tree roots and hiking up steep hills. Due to the lack in sunlight the act of tracking time was lost to them, and so they were left to assume that it had been well over an hour – or perhaps even more – when they noticed a change in the scenery.

On either side of them the skyscraping trees were replaced with worn down temple walls, forest life growing on their surfaces, and tall arched doorways came into view, each bordered by a pair of empty torches. Link then led them along a leaf-infested trail towards one of these doorways, where Dijonay leaned her head back and spotted a rusty portcullis peeking down at them. After exiting this tunnel the Hyrulean showed them to a windswept staircase, instructing them to tread carefully for obvious reasons.

At the bottom of these steps the travelers found themselves striding through what looked to be the remains of a circular-shaped room, its tile floor faded and walls crumbling.

"What is this place?" Dijonay finally inquired, examining an ancient, weather-beaten statue that stood nearby.

"They're the ruins of a temple," Link started to explain, swatting a spider web out of his path. "Someone told me it used to be called the 'Temple of Time' or something like that. The ancient Hylians used it as a place to guard where the Triforce was placed before the Great Flood."

"_The _Temple of Time?" Brent asked incredulously, his eyes suddenly widening in interest.

"Yeah." Link looked at him over his shoulder. "You've read about it, I'm guessing."

"He's a dork like that," Renée put in, smiling when Brent slid her a dissatisfied look.

"This place is old," Mekial stated, craning his neck to look around and trying to picture what the place might have looked like ages ago. "But it's almost like I can feel something here. Something…alive."

"Well, the Triforce itself used to be somewhere around here when it was whole," Link offered. "Maybe as a mage you can sense the effect it left behind."

He then made to continue on to another section of the aged site but stopped upon noticing a sudden rigidness in one of his companions. Concerned, he turned to face her and wondering whom he was looking at the others followed his gaze, halting when they, too, spotted Katrina's grim expression.

A moment of silence passed before the Corvenian finally voiced an inquisition, "Do you hear that?" No one responded, choosing instead to wait for an elaboration. But when she did not give one, Mekial spoke up.

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like…a rumble," Katrina's eyes narrowed as she tried to identify the ongoing noise. "Or a roar…" She loosened her tense stance, though her sternly serious air did not wither. "It's gone, now."

"Huh." Renée peered in the same direction as her. "I didn't hear anything." Katrina's eyes moved to Link and Brent, silently requesting their response to her announcement.

"Think I did," Brent admitted.

"Barely," Link put in. "It was pretty quiet. I heard it earlier, too."

"It must be a far away sound if only you three can hear it," Dijonay presumed, looking at the trio. Her eyes then fell to Morbex and flicked from one of his long ears to the other.

"Just for decoration, really," he informed her, realizing what she was looking at. "I can't hear any different than I would in my real form." The girl nodded her understanding.

"Let's just keep our guard up," Link stated, looking around the area warily before turning to make his way through a crowd of hanging vines. "This is where that imp led me last year," he said as they emerged on the other side of the trailing plants. "It was probably the main room of the whole temple," he added as the outlanders filed in to and spread about the room, gazing at it in wonder.

It was the largest part of the ruins they had seen yet and, like the previous rooms, its walls only rose partway before turning into jagged edges, which made room for forest infestation. Off to the right was an enormous pile of rubble, but upon closer examination it was found it to be the remains of a stone staircase. On the platform above it was a door, practically intact, with its face decorated by Hylian insignias and words of the old tongue.

Upon lowering their eyes to the mossy ground the foreigners discovered the symbol of the Triforce to be painted there, faded and scratched by the hands of time. Directly in front of the emblem was another wall, its body having been worn away to reveal the arched beams that once granted it shape. Two pillars were placed against this wall and between them was a short set of stairs guiding up to an open, square doorway.

Unable to fend off her attraction Renée approached the entrance first, moving at a steady jog. After stepping within the entryway she came upon another staircase, taller than the previous, and without hesitation she climbed to their peak. In the next moment her breath escaped her in a quiet sigh of awe.

The room she now stood in was vast and circular, its aged floor blanketed with a layer of fallen leaves and stray slabs of rock. The walls of this area were the lowest of all, enabling her to see into the peaceful grove beyond, but the bodies of pillars could still be seen, marking the perimeter and forming halfhearted frames as though to insinuate the presence of windows.

Renée dared another couple of steps, treading carefully as though worried she would disturb the old chamber's overwhelming tranquility. As she moved, her gaze was drawn to a pedestal in the very center of the cavity, and she blinked as a ray of sunlight flickered against the steel blade protruding from it.

Identifying the gleaming weapon, her jaw fell open. "That can't be what I think it is."

"What you think what is?" Mekial burst in behind her, and stopped at her side to examine the sword. "What's that?"

"No way…" The two siblings turned as Brent's voice sounded and watched as he came up beside them, his eyes glued to the fabled blade. "That's…that's actually…" Words failed him and he settled for gawking as the rest of the group marched in.

"Still here," Link nodded in satisfaction when he saw what the Arkanians were mesmerized by.

"Link, that's the Master Sword, isn't it?" Renée asked blankly, pointing at the sacred weapon. "Isn't it?"

"That's it."

"So, since you've got the Triforce of Courage…does that mean that you…y'know, you actually…used it?"

Link nodded.

"And that's what you used to beat that sorcerer," Morbex concluded, staring at the blade.

"Incredible…" Dijonay breathed.

"Can you take it out?" Brent asked somewhat hopefully.

"I don't think so," Link answered with a slight shake of his head. "I only took it last year because I needed it, then just put it back when all was said and done."

"But you can take it out because it knows you have the Triforce of Courage, right?" Mekial pressed.

"That's how it works."

"So can you do it?" Brent threw in. "Just once? Then you can put it back again!"

Link looked back at the weapon. "It wouldn't be a good idea to take it now," he confirmed. "After all, I don't need it."

"Aww… Bummer." Brent redirected his eyes to the sword. "But at least I get to see it."

Link gave a subtle tip of his head while Katrina turned her back on the traveling band, scowling down into the stairwell that led to the room they had previously been in.

"Since these ruins are the main part of the ancient forest that the Sages were talking about, the shard we're looking for might be around here somewhere," Link declared behind her. "It's a big place, but searching here is better than wandering around the forest."

"True," Brent agreed. "We should probably split into groups then, just to cover more ground. Then we can all meet up back here."

"In that case, I'll start looking with Mek –" Renée began, but cut off as an abrupt and distracted frown settled across Link and Brent's faces. She looked between them confusedly, and her brow creased even more when they turned their eyes to the orchard as if expecting to see something appear there.

Katrina glanced at them over her shoulder then turned back to the stairwell. "Now do you hear it?"

"Hear what?" Dijonay questioned and stopped herself when a faint roar drifted to her ears. Simultaneously, she and the other non-Hylians looked about them as though hoping to find the strange sound's source. Moments later though it stopped, returning reign to the whispering of the woods.

Mekial's brow puckered in concern. "What…was that?"

"No idea." Brent, too, let his eyes shift from side to side in examination of their surroundings. "But we should –" Rudely he was interrupted when the noise came again, growling with a ferocity suggesting that whatever was making the great sound was now upon them.

Then, a great tremor shattered the group's sense of balance as it barreled through the earth and Morbex crumbled to his knees with a grunt of pain. From where his weight crashed into the ground a large crack sprang, widening to the point where he could soon begin to feel himself slipping through.

His mind whirling into a state of panic, Morbex attempted to stand and break away from the widening gap – but its speed was too quick, growing with such pace that he feared he would soon topple into darkness.

Even as this fissure emerged a series of snaps and pops sounded from afar and a group of splits darted towards the trapped party. With a bone-chilling _crack_ the tears joined together, forcing the earth apart and releasing slabs of land into an enlarging Hole. With this the opening beneath Morbex expanded, and with a terrified yell he was swallowed whole.

Seeing him Mekial made to utter a spell of rescue, the words already tumbling from his tongue. Yet, just as he stretched out a hand to Morbex's falling silhouette the ground beneath him gave way, breaking his thoughts.

Renée groped for his outstretched hand and despairingly missed by hairs; her heart sinking, she watched as her brother plunged out of reach then choked on a gasp when she, too, was devoured by the growing Hole. After her the crumbling ground moved to surprise the others, disappearing from beneath their feet and pulling them beneath the surface. From their throats tore yells and screams of terror, the Hole expanding all the while and dooming them to oblivion.

Clothes and hair whipping against him Link vainly reached up to the daylight, and his heart tightened as the surrounding darkness shrunk the illumination into a pin-sized dot.

Then it blotted it out completely.


	68. Chapter 67

**Chapter Sixty-Seven**

It was as though no control belonged to him.

No matter which way he twisted, battling against the currents of air that rushed against him, the surrounding darkness remained that same, hopeless black.

Somewhere in the dark he could hear the shouts of his allies as they tumbled down with him, their invisible bodies pivoting and barreling towards some unknown location. Water built in Mekial's eyes to guard them from the sting of the wind and he squinted through it, trying desperately to see if the darkness would soon yield.

Right when he gave in to the fear that he and the others would simply fall into nothingness, he heard Katrina manage a sentence: "There's something down there!"

Mekial blinked away his tears and saw it: a faint shaft of light gleaming through what appeared to be the opening of a cave. He fell further, heart pounding at the idea of splattering against solid rock, and soon spotted a glowing, smooth surface. The closer the boy came to it the more he came to realize that it was the surface of water. His mind whirled into action.

Willing himself to calm he spread his arms and legs out and positioned one palm down, then waved it in a wide, circular motion. Obediently, the water swirled along with his hand and, as he pulled it back, a long tube of the liquid fired up at he and his party with lightning speed. Before the boy could blink it absorbed them all, then dragged them down to the pool it came from.

Roaring waves met the travelers next, lashing and shunting them out of the cave-like area and into daylight. Waterlogged and disoriented, none of them could even attain a shout as they toppled, bobbed and choked through the river currents. With their heads constantly ducking and popping under and over the powerful waterway, they wondered how long they would last.

Then suddenly the forceful shove of the watery hands halted, leaving them to plummet to the base of a small waterfall. Heavy splashes resonated in the air as they landed and, suffocating on their own coughs, they were sent drifting towards the shore of this smaller body of water by the gentle nudge of the fall. Once near enough they eagerly hauled themselves onto the security of land, gasping and hiccupping in their attempts at composure.

"W-w-who's – _hic _– b-b-bright – _cough _– id-d-d-dea w-w-was that?" Katrina stammered uncontrollably, concluding her inquiry with a breathless wheeze.

Mekial made to reply, only to have his words overpowered by a fit of coughing. When it had finally subsided, he wiped his nose with an arm. "I s-saved our butts, didn't I?"

"This place is in-insane," Renée croaked, falling from her hands-and-knees position and rolling onto her back. "With all the falling and" – she swallowed –"drowning that's been happening to us, I don't think I'll ever be the same again."

"You're tellin' me…" Brent pushed himself off of the wet ground and stood to his feet, swayed just a little then regained his balance. But when his vision spun wildly, he was forced to lean against a nearby tree for support.

"My heart is still pounding," Dijonay said quietly, holding a hand over her heart as she struggled to her feet. "Could that earthquake have created a Hole, like the ones that have been appearing all over the country? And even back in Arkania?"

"It looked like one," Link agreed darkly, his mind still trying to overcome the trauma of the abrupt event. "But I never thought they actually led anywhere."

On that note he took a moment to observe his surroundings, his cerulean eyes moving from the lagoon he and the others landed in and the small stream that burbled away from it to the tall trees encircling it.

The large plants hung over and around the small lake in the illusion of a barrier, as if they were hiding it from unwanted eyes. But they also stretched away from the pond in thick masses of luscious green, bordering spontaneous trails and their trunks ranging from skinny and frail to wide and brawny.

Scattered rays of sunlight managed to stem in through the canopy and speckle across the entire forest floor, but were so pale and weak in strength that they almost seemed gray and transparent. Though practically invisible thanks to the awning of trees, the reason for the sunlight's frailness was due to a heavy fog that hovered above the entire forest. Most would view such a thing as a grounded cloud but, strangely, its shape and density were jarringly similar to that of the mist filling the abyss near the sacred woods' entrance.

There also seemed to be a mystical air throughout this particular forest, Link noticed: there was something surreal about it, something that was mystically innocent. It created a noticeable difference in the atmosphere but, at the same time, seemed almost natural, as though it were something that should exist everywhere.

It sent chills down Link's spine but at the same time an irrational peace, as though the troubles of Hyrule and the rest of the world could not reach him in this place.

The soft sound of feet digging into the mud next to the lagoon drew Link's eyes back to his allies. Instantly his eyebrows crinkled with concern at the sight of Dijonay gingerly helping Morbex to his feet. More so than the others he was terribly shaken: the knees of his impish body were subtly trembling and he had a hand pressed to the side of his head, which he hoped would help keep the world from spinning beneath his feet.

"Th-thank you," he stammered weakly as he reached his full height. Dijonay's hand remained on his back for support. "I guess that fall was a bit more than this body could handle." His eyes, half-lidded with weariness, looked upon the worried faces of the others. "S-sorry… I don't mean to hold everyone back…"

Dijonay shook her head. "No, it is not your fault."

"But Mek, could we get a warning next time?" Renée asked of her sibling, now standing a few feet away from the pond. "Personally, I'd like to know when a water-arm is gonna eat me."

"Gee, _sor-ry_," Mekial huffed, throwing his hands up in mock-surrender. "Excuse me for cushioning the fall! Next time I'll just let us smash into the water."

"It's not your fault," Morbex piped up, quickly diffusing the situation. "If anything, the force of the river was the worst part."

"Yeah and it's gotten us all soaked," Brent pointed out, looking down at his sopping wet clothes. "Anything you can do for that Mekial?"

Though still a little disgruntled by the lack of appreciation seeming to come from his sister, Mekial nodded and raised his hands, then uttered a chant under his breath.

"By the way, Ren, this is your warning," Brent added.

Right after he spoke a blast of wind erupted from Mekial's palms, blowing into everyone with such strength that they were nearly knocked off their feet. After a few seconds had passed Mekial withdrew the gales, then stifled a laugh at the wide-eyed expressions of his allies and the way their hair stuck up in every which direction.

"Wow." Brent shook himself out of his trance and proceeded to pat his hair and clothes back into place. "That definitely works a lot better than hanging clothes up on a clothesline."

Unsuccessfully holding in yet another laugh, Mekial sent a small breeze whirling around himself to rid his own clothes of their wetness.

"Link, do you recognize this place at all?" Dijonay inquired of the man once she was assured that Morbex would not soon fall over.

"No, I don't." Link shook his head, loosening his locks and allowing them to fall back into place. He then proceeded to fix his tunic. "I never knew this place even existed. It's not on my map."

"Then maybe this is the 'ancient woods' that those Sages were really talking about," Renée wagered, looking around at the peaceful, green scenery. "Maybe the shard we're looking for is down here somewhere."

"Hopefully," Link muttered, then redirected his gaze to the pool upon spotting something out of his peripheral vision. A frown settled across his face as he looked on at the area and, noticing this, Katrina followed his eyes.

"Something there?"

Temporarily withholding an answer, Link's eyes remained on a particular ledge that hung over the lagoon and then he turned away with a shake of his head. "It's nothing."

Katrina viewed him suspiciously and then looked to the pond again, closer this time, as though hoping to see something that the Hyrulean had missed. But when nothing peculiar occurred she, too, walked away.

Not even a moment after she did, a small figure darted through a crowd of shrubbery on the ledge Link had been looking to, then sprinted through the bushes and climbed into the uppermost branches of a tree.

"This is the only trail that actually…looks like a trail," Brent was saying once Katrina had rejoined the group. He was looking down at the only visible path that wound away from the little lake and off into the deepest parts of the forest. Wearing her typical, unreadable expression, the Corvenian peered down the natural road with hidden curiosity.

"We should follow it, then," Morbex offered, his somewhat soft voice depicting that his cursed form was still making a recovery. "It could lead somewhere."

Agreeing with this idea the party followed the path as one, silent in their travel and observant of the scenery around them. Within moments the peacefulness that Link had felt earlier overcame each of them, eradicating the concerns that had followed them through the Hole and filling them with such contentment that it was as if they had stepped into another world.

Even so, they stayed true to their reason for being there and kept their eyes skinned for any sign of an abnormal, golden light, or perhaps even a path that could guide them back to the upper levels of the forest. After all even if they were to find the next shard, it would do them no good if they had no exit.

A long while had passed by the time the group finally came to a halt where the trail they had once trusted now ended. Wishing to find a new route each of the group members turned their eyes in various directions, and with steadily dropping hearts they figured that the forest was very much uncharted. If they did not conjure up a way to find some kind of direction soon, they would wind up even more lost than they already were.

As this thought hit him, Brent released a long sigh. "I like it here," he started, breaking the tense silence, "but it'd help if it was actually on the map."

"Sadly, an earthquake had to happen for us to find this place," Katrina pointed out matter-of-factly. "I don't think that happens to mapmakers often."

"But there must be a way for us to find out how to get through this," Dijonay spoke up, and looked around as though in search of a landmark. "Or perhaps we can split up and search ahead, and then regroup here?"

"We can't really do that if we don't know how to navigate the place," Renée said pointedly.

"Maybe we don't have to split up," Link put in, his gaze fastening on something off in the distance.

Wondering what he meant, the outlanders looked in the same direction and, through a parting of trees, spotted a tree trunk the width of a manor a number of miles away. Awesome and intimidating with its dynamic proportions, the main stem of the great plant rose high above the forest canopy and vanished into the mist that drifted above.

"That looks like a good place to go," Link shrugged, lowering his eyes back to the party.

"Holy cow," Renée spurted, her eyes large. "That's the biggest tree I've ever seen! Since when could they even get that big?!"

"This place is definitely full of surprises," Brent murmured, taking a step back to get a better view of the tree. "It's almost…unreal."

"Unreal or not, it's the best bet we have," Link claimed. "Let's go –"

A few tiny leaves drifted in front of the Hyrulean's face and he cut his sentence short. Hearing a faint rustle accompanying the sudden descent of the leafage his eyes jumped to the tree branches, moving just in time to see something lurking there, watching he and his companions, before it leaped away with a squeak of fright and hopped and swung through the branches in the direction of the great tree.

"What the heck was _that_?" Katrina blurted out as leaves rained down in front of them. "It didn't even look like a monkey – not even an animal."

"No idea," Link admitted, his blue eyes firmly locked on the shrinking silhouette of the peculiar being. "But it's headed towards that tree – maybe there really is something up there."

The agreement of his comrades was nonverbal, instead made known by the quick dash that they broke into as they pursued the being that had been observing them. Arms pumping and legs jumping, skipping and trampling over obstacles, they moved to cover the distance between themselves and the distant figure. The closer they came to it the larger the great tree that rose over the entire forest became, looming over their tiny frames and dominating them with its presence.

Before long the creature that they were following stumbled midway through a hop from one branch to another and with a heavy _thump_ landed amongst a crowd of shrubs.

Increasing their pace to catch it, the party watched as the creature hastily emerged from the bushes and looked back at them, granting them a moment to take in its appearance before it sprinted off again, terrified.

Its body looked like a miniaturized tree trunk the group noticed, with a large, flat leaf stuck on the upper half. Upon this green mask there was a face, though it was so terribly misshapen that it looked like a child had taken black paint and drawn it there. Twigs extended from its stub of a body in place of arms and legs as well, and though thin they proved fairly strong in its escape of its unwanted followers.

The forest-dweller's strange appearance did little to slow the speed of the travelers and with their steady determination they maintained their pursuit, breaking through a barrier of stout bushes and thin trees and continuing along a clear, dirt path. It was here that they spotted the strange tree creature near the end of the same trail right before it made a theatrical jump and disappeared beneath the edge of a hill.

The party slowed to a halt at the crown of this hill and looked down to see where the walking tree had gone. To their surprise, the hill was not at all steep but instead sloped down into a grassy, circular clearing. Located in the very center of it was the base of the greatly proportioned tree they had been gazing at earlier, with some of its roots protruding from the ground. Still more trees encircled the entire area, standing on the edges of the same hill as Link and the others, which evidently wrapped around the depression.

Redirecting their eyes towards a flicker of movement, Link caught sight of the little tree trunk that they had been chasing.

Huffing and puffing, it turned its head back to see if it was still being followed. Upon learning that it was, it let out a fresh squeal and raised its speed, intending to find shelter beneath one of the tree roots.

"Wait!" Link hurriedly made to skid down the incline and catch up to the poor thing but, as soon as he did, the air shook with the heavy timbre of a disembodied voice, which bellowed threateningly, "_Who goes there?!_"

Startled, Link froze in his tracks, eyes wide and unsure where to look. Behind him his allies did the same, their bodies rigid and hearts still pounding from the shock of the deep inquiry.

Silence reigned over the forest in that short instant, and then the sound of tree bark snapping and breaking shook the travelers to their core. As one they fixed their eyes on the enormous tree that stood in the clearing, and watched with open mouths as the plant's rough skin peeled and cracked away to shape the contours of a bearded, humanoid face.

Stray bits of bark plummeted into the grass beneath it as this visage became more apparent and its eyes, formed by the shadows of the tree's outer layers, glared down at the humans in front of it. The face wrinkled its nose, releasing yet another shower of tree bark, and with the wide, horizontal split in its lower half it made a hole, which it opened and closed in a way similar to a human working its jaw.

Dijonay choked on a yelp and staggered back; Morbex stiffened; Renée and Brent took a step of retreat; Katrina's jaw dangled; Mekial gasped; and Link faltered, eyes dilated as a soft breath passed his lips.

The face grunted in a loud and unimpressed fashion. "Humans."

The ground quaked beneath the power of his vocals. Morbex stumbled, more so from the surprise that still captivated him, and Dijonay gained enough sense to grant him the support of her arm.

"The tree is talking," Renée whispered hoarsely.

"Y-yeah." Brent gulped. "It is."

"How times have changed," the massive tree boomed. "Never have I thought that I would see humans in this forest." It bore down on them for a moment, taking note of their paralyzed forms. "You are surprised, I take it. It is not often you see a talking tree."

"N-nn…" Katrina squeaked.

"A talking tree," Link whispered to himself, and with those few words the stories from his childhood replayed in his mind. "Then are you…a Deku Tree?"

"So, there is one of you that has heard of me," the monstrous plant observed, and Link's comrades stared at him, taken aback by his bravery. "I am what you say."

"Where'd you hear of talking trees?" Brent asked.

"Bedtime stories," Link answered bluntly. "But I didn't think any of them really existed. At least, not anymore; there are stories that the stump of one is standing near the bridge over in Lake Hylia, but if anything, I thought that that was the last one."

"We Deku Trees are far and few between," the great plant started, overhearing Link's statement, "since we live so long. But as of the last few centuries, we have tended to grow in numerous places due to our seeds being scattered across the winds. Especially since the Great Flood.

"But that is enough about the times of old." The tree's voice was rougher now, ancient and more demanding. "The question now is who are you? And what is it that has lead you to intrude upon the Deku Forest and the home of my children, the Koroks?"

As he uttered this last word, the creature Link and his companions had been trailing poked its head out from beneath one of the Deku Tree's roots.

"Koroks?" Mekial repeated quizzically.

"You have already met one, I presume," the tree proclaimed. "Though some have retaken their human appearances, there are still others that have retained this shape ever since the tragic events of the Great Flood."

"I'm Morbex," the Fenri replied in cordial response to the old tree's inquiry.

"Link."

"Brent."

"D-Dijonay."

"Mekial."

"Renée." She looked away, scowling at herself. "I just introduced myself to a tree..."

"Katrina..."

"And we came here in search of something," Link continued. "Something very important. Being the guardian of these woods, do you think you would be able to help us?"

"Hmm…" The tree pondered the request. "What is it that you are searching for?"

"We're looking for a shard," Brent explained, overcoming the mind-boggling sight of the tree's face. "A shard of the Triforce of Power. It's been split into four pieces, and one of them is said to be here somewhere."

"Of Power?" the tree echoed, seemingly flabbergasted, and when it spoke again the only thing showing its apprehension and suspicion was its voice, "Then that means that that wicked sorcerer is finally dead… But why are you looking for such a thing?"

"My brother," Morbex piped up, journeying to the front of the group so that he could be seen, "is set on gathering the shards. Once he has them, he'll find the wielders of Courage and Wisdom and he'll make a wish to erect an empire over the world. We can't let him go through with it – he'd be endangering his entire homeland."

"I see," the old tree said softly. "And who was it that told you one of the shards was here?"

"The Sages," Link said.

"Sages…" If the tree were human it would have furrowed a pair of fuzzy gray eyebrows and rubbed its temples as it processed this information. "And the Triforce has been broken again, you say…"

"Again…?" Link exchanged quick looks with the others.

"Hyrule has seen a great deal of turmoil in its history," the great tree stated, "and all of it has been caused by that holy object that carries the very essence of the goddesses within it. The fact that one of its three pieces has been broken can only bode ill for the country's future."

"What do you mean?" Brent inquired, pursing his blue eyebrows.

"Centuries ago, the three great goddesses left the Triforce in these lands after they were finished with the creation of the world," the tree explained. "But soon, word of its existence spread, and a great war between humans ensued over who would be able to claim the relic's righteous power.

"Hundreds died in the effort and in the end only one man managed to obtain the relic as his own."

Link lowered her eyes contemplatively, and clenched a fist at his side as a probable name took form in his thoughts.

"His heart was not pure," the tree went on, drawing Link's eyes back to him, "and so the Triforce was split into the three pieces that it represents: power, wisdom, and courage. Each piece went to the one whose soul resonated with it the most."

"That's the story of how the Triforce of Wisdom wound up in the royal family," Link cut in.

"And as such, the balance of the very planet has been shaken," the Great Deku Tree thundered over him, rendering the poor hero silent. "Our world's order is balanced with that of the Triforce, which was only meant to be whole.

"But the greed of humanity led to its separation and now you say a piece of it is shattered and wanders the earth aimlessly, as lost as Mankind. The same thing happened to Courage when the floodwaters were still high. And now, finally, the earth is beginning to be affected by all of this."

"Affected how?" Morbex pressed, taking note of the ancient being's negative demeanor.

"A Hole recently appeared in the upper levels of the forest, did it not?" the Tree inquired. "They have been appearing everywhere, varying in size – and the imbalance of the Triforce is the cause."

"So the entire world…is falling in on itself because of the Triforce?" Mekial repeated, his brow furrowing.

"That's what it sounds like," Brent concluded tightly.

"Is there any way for you to help us find the shard that's in your forest?" Renée called up to the wise, old plant. "Maybe if we gather all of the shards back into one, we can stop all of these Holes from appearing."

"No." The single word was powerful and thick, rocking the Arkanian to the bone and making her start. "Humans are part of the cause of this dilemma – I cannot entrust the shard to you."

"So you know where it is," Katrina picked out.

"…Yes," the Tree admitted. "But I will not disclose this information to you."

Katrina's frown deepened and she dropped her shoulders, somewhat put down by the Tree's solid response.

Link's eyes sank to the ground, his mind whirring, and then he looked back up at the Deku Tree. "What do we need to do to show you that we don't mean to worsen the problem?" he asked, determination filling his every word. "We need that shard, Great Deku Tree. It'd be a disaster if we let Morbex's brother get his hands on it."

For a moment the great Tree was silent. "…Seek out the remaining shards of Power," he finally relented, "then return here. Only then will I give you the shard that you seek. Then with all of the pieces of Power in one place, it can be returned to its original form.

"But without both Wisdom and Courage the Triforce cannot be made whole, and so merely returning Power to its full shape will do nothing for this earth."

"Then you want us to bring the Triforce of Wisdom and Courage here," Link guessed. A warm feeling prickled at the skin of his left hand and he clenched it, and at the same time, his thoughts began to build around the Hylian princess. How was he to find her and bring her here once all of the shards of Power were in his possession?

After escaping the capital, Sheik had explained to them that the Zelda they had seen in the castle was false, which was why she had tried to have Link, Brent, Katrina and Renée publically murdered.

But if Zelda was not in the castle, where could she be?

As this question took form in his mind, Link recalled the strange sense of familiarity he had felt while Sheik was speaking to them. Was it possible that Sheik knew of the princess's whereabouts? Even if he did, how were they to go about finding him and asking for his help?

"But the last shard is all the way up north." Katrina's voice broke over Link's thoughts, thus drawing him from his concerns. "We could be gone for weeks. Then we have to find the princess and come all the way back here, hoping that Malbex didn't take the shard while we were gone?"

"It doesn't look like we have much of a choice," Link said, looking to her out of the side of his eye.

"And from the way he is speaking, it would seem that the Great Deku Tree himself is in possession of the shard," Dijonay added.

Katrina parted her lips to retort but after rethinking her words, clamped her mouth shut. Though unwilling to concede with them the two were probably right. Even if she decided to rebel against their beliefs she would merely be setting herself up for a fruitless negotiation with an age-old tree, which would undoubtedly drive her insane.

So she merely turned her eyes away from the Hyrulean and prime minister, disgruntled, irritated and bothered by the new direction that their quest was now taking.

"All right." Link redirected his eyes towards the Great Deku Tree. "Then we'll go and get the rest of the shards," he agreed, tipping his chin in consent.

"Good." The Great Deku Tree's voice had relaxed now. "Then follow the trail directly behind you. It will lead you back to the upper levels of the woods."

Hiding his bitter disappointment Link met the eyes of each of his companions and then made a complete turn, marching down the trail and towards the exit of the deepest section of the forest. The others followed him in silence but, before doing the same, Morbex cast a glance at the tree. His bright red eyes dimmed with sadness and then he looked away, following after the others in their procession.

The first part of their trek was wordless, filled instead by the buzzing of the woods and the faint swishing of leafage as they knocked bushes and branches out of their path. It was not until the sight of the Deku Tree was lost in a sea of green did Mekial suddenly speak up, inquiring where they were to go next.

"Snowpeak is nothing but a frozen wasteland," Link started, ducking under a low branch, "so we'll have to stop somewhere and buy some thick coats. Wouldn't want to freeze."

"Would Kakariko Village have some?" the young mage suggested. "After all, we can't stop in the capital – we're kind of wanted."

"Kakariko would be our best bet," Link said, and then paused. "But we'd have to be careful, since I'm a supposed murderer and you all are my accomplices. The soldiers might actually step up their security both there and in the capital."

"By the way, Link." Link granted his attention to Dijonay. "You remember Sheik, correct? He told us that the princess was no longer in the castle." Link looked away, his face darkening. "And the princess is the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom, is she not? How are we to find her and bring her back here for the Deku Tree?"

"We might have to just look for clues," Brent figured. "But then again, doing that would force us back into the capital, wouldn't it?"

"Maybe Mekial could use his invisibility spell," Dijonay offered hopefully, looking at her bodyguard. "Then perhaps you could enter…the town bar, and see if there are any rumors circling around!"

"That idea sounds half-possible," Mekial stated frankly, causing Dijonay's shoulders to sag. "The only problem is, I can't hold up the invisibility spell for that long."

"Why don't we just send in Morbex as your back-up?" Renée asked. "Unlike us, no one in the capital is after him."

"Or Mekial could be Morbex's back-up," Brent put in. "Y'know, like Mekial could hide around and go invisible behind Morbex and help him out with a spell or two if he starts to get bothered by people. 'Cause, no offense Your Highness, but you've got a real interesting face." Morbex smiled weakly and turned the idea over in his mind.

"I don't suppose it wouldn't work," he said after a thoughtful pause on his part.

"Okay, then we just need to figure out a way to do it so that you guys aren't seen together or caught," Brent began, the gears in his mind whirling into operation. Somehow, he seemed eager to be the mastermind behind another infiltration plan.

It was both strange and inspiring, Link thought, how his allies seemed to pick up and dust off their spirits even after their disheartening conversation with the Great Deku Tree. If anything, their efforts at planning ahead would prove to be greatly useful in the next leg of their journey.

But even so, he wished that they had a better more of transportation than their boots and a single horse. Considering what Katrina had made note of earlier, they truly were taking their chances by going after another shard while one was already so close by. In all honesty, Link believed it would be a grand stroke of luck if Malbex had not been using his Seeker to watch their discussion with the forest guardian.

The group rounded another thicket a few moments later and found a rising slope on its other side. Climbing it without complaint, they discovered a wall of trees at what looked to be a dead-end. Desiring to learn if such an assumption was correct Link parted the leaves of the branches and looked down, only to find that their guess had been wrong: to his bewilderment, he found himself looking down at the very clearing he and the others had passed through before swinging over the foggy abyss and into the woods that led to the Temple of Time.

Letting his eyes wander to the left, the Hylian even spotted his horse lying down beside the very tree he had tied her to earlier.

Turning away, the Hyrulean made a note of this to his comrades and then hiked down into the open space. Mutely the others followed, and after awakening the man's mare they turned to leave the woods and venture out into the expansive plains of Hyrule. With little more than a soft huff from Katrina as they gave the entrance to the ancient woods a fleeting and disappointed glance, they were on their way.

* * *

"I don't think I really understood what you all were talking about…" The Korok that had hidden itself among the roots of the Great Deku Tree scurried back out into the open and circled to the enormous plant's front. "But those humans actually seemed kind of nice. Maybe not all of them are as bad as we think."

"You were eavesdropping?" the wise plant inquired, his voice heavy with both incredulousness and a touch of anger.

"I… U-uh…" The Korok's already squeaky voice rose in pitch and it twisted its twig hands together, completely flustered and utterly ashamed. "I-I'm sorry…"

"Such a sneaky one you are, Kirov," the Deku Tree said, and by his tone the Korok, Kirov, knew it was not a compliment. "But I suppose you are right; I did sense sincerity from them. Especially from that one in the green tunic, the one called Link. There was something strangely familiar about him as well…" The Tree trailed off, as though distracted by something and the Korok watched him curiously, then even more intensely when he spoke again, "Kirov, why do you not return to the other Koroks? There was a game that you all were playing before you were spotted by the humans, was there not?"

"O-oh yeah!" Kirov slapped his twig-arms on either side of his face as he recalled the event he had been engaged in prior to his human encounter. "We were playing hide-and-go-seek! Oh, thank you, Great Deku Tree! I hope the others didn't start a new round without me…!"

That said the tiny creature scampered up the wrap-around incline and hastened up the side of a tree, then disappeared into its branches. Leaves rustled quietly as he proceeded to hop from treetop to treetop, back towards where he remembered his Korok companions to be.

Gentle, early winter winds whispered through the clearing once Kirov's sounds of departure faded into silence. Being made of bark the Deku Tree could not feel such winds but knew of their existence by the way they shifted his leaves and the subtle, foreboding aura that floated along their currents.

The peculiar sensation thickened with each passing second, growing in eeriness and choking the air until it filled the entire clearing. Then, it was broken by an abrupt and ear-splitting series of snaps that sent a family of fowls shooting out of the trees.

Quiet ensued, ominous and unnerving, until pierced by the sound of footsteps walking along the trail before the great Tree. Within moments the approaching silhouette of a well-dressed man could be spotted and once emerging from beneath the forest canopy, he lifted a pair of blood red eyes to the face of the large plant.

"Ah… I thought I sensed another human coming," the Great Deku Tree stated as the pale-skinned being stopped at the edge of the hillside. He looked incredibly calm in the presence of the talking monstrosity, and regarded it with a narrow-eyed frown. "Though your spirit seems much different than those that were before you: such frustration and rage…"

Malbex's eyes narrowed and he forced his mind to close against the probing, sixth sense of the guardian spirit.

"There's no need for you to prattle," he claimed, his voice resounding throughout the area. He slid one foot back and held up a hand, fingers extended. In the center of his palm a pale blue light ignited, then grew to engulf his outstretched limb in a blaze of azure fire. "I'm not here for that."


	69. Chapter 68

**Chapter Sixty-Eight**

Only partway out of the forest did the group recall that a Hole was located just outside of Kakariko Gorge, which would prevent them from journeying to Kakariko village for supplies.

As such, they decided to reroute their path but became stuck on how to do so: on one hand, they could wind their way through the western parts of Lanayru Province and head for Zora's Domain or they could cut through the capital and as such save themselves some time.

"…But going through the capital could turn into a problem," Link said, slowing to a halt at where the road forked into three paths: the right one wound its way into Eldin, the left into Lanayru, and the one in front shot into the southern part of the capital.

"I can't say I want to do it," Brent said with a sigh, "especially since we were almost hanged the last time we were there. But if we go about it tactfully, it couldn't be too bad."

"It would save us time, too," Mekial pointed out, "and like you said before: we could even find out about what's going on with the princess while we're there, and get some thick coats for the mountains."

"Maybe we could go with Brent's plan," Renée started, crossing her arms, "but at the same time, I wonder if there's another way for us to get any other information…"

"But do we really have a choice, Ren?" Mekial spun to face her, his eyebrows furrowing. "After all, we have to get that next shard and get back to the Deku Tree before Malbex tries anything – "

"If he hasn't already," Katrina interjected with a huff.

Mekial threw her a dark look.

"There aren't very many places to get information from," Link informed the party, drawing their focus. "The people in Ordon haven't heard much from the capital, and getting to Kakariko is impossible for us right now."

"There's nowhere else?" Brent questioned, squinting at the Hyrulean through the glare of afternoon sunlight.

"There's a little village in the mountain pass beyond Eldin Bridge," the shepherd admitted.

"But there's no point in going there if it's _that_ way," Renée sighed, tilting her head to the path on the right.

"Then I guess that means we're going through the city." Brent turned his gaze to the dirt road in front of them.

"Or maybe we could hitch a ride." Donning her signature expression of boredom, Katrina aimed her first finger down the path to the right.

Following her indication, the others turned to find a short line of horse-drawn wagons rumbling along the road in their direction. There were also some horsemen riding alongside the little train, though judging from their casual clothing and the multiple bags strapped to their saddles, they were more than likely part of the group rather than bodyguards.

Wordlessly, Link and his allies watched as the covered vehicles drew nearer. When the first car pulled close Brent took the initiative and stepped forward, raising a hand in greeting in order to magnetize the attention of the driver.

"Got room for a few more?" he called up to the small, dark-skinned man and, somewhat taken aback by his bluntness, his allies stared at him.

The driver turned his dark eyes to the party with a pale laugh and let his gaze flick to Epona's bag-filled saddle. "Looks like ya'll got a lot ta be carryin'," he said, pausing his horses with a light tug on their reins. The rest of the caravan stopped behind him, as did the horsemen. "You movin' too?"

"Not necessarily," Brent answered. "We're just headed up to Zora's Domain."

"Up north, eh?" The man tipped his chin. "Well, we are headin' in that direction… Whatchu say, Fel? Think we got room?"

He looked towards the brown, muscled horseman on his left, whose naturally frowning countenance seemed to glower down at the young travelers before him. His dark hair was tied into a loose ponytail that slicked passed his shoulders and a short, light jacket hung across his body, its sleeves rolled up to the elbows. An owl pendant glinted around his neck, briefly attracting the party's eyes and offsetting his somewhat sinister appearance with its hand-chiseled features.

The horseman's hard eyes moved from one of the adventurers to another, examining them beneath a scrutinizing gaze that practically surfaced the deepest intentions of their hearts.

"…There should be room in the fabric merchant's wagon," he said finally, annunciating each syllable in such a way that a foreign accent was palpable in his low tone. Though it bore no resemblance to the wagon driver's – it was likely he was accustomed to speaking a different language altogether.

"Oh?" Said driver grabbed the rim of his straw hat to hold it against the wind. "Well, ya'll heard 'im! Might be a bit cramped, but it should be all right."

"So you'll give us a ride?" Brent picked out, surprised with how easy it had been.

"Sure. Fel seems to like ya'll enough – and we can't leave ya'll out here anyhow, what with them black monsters floatin' 'round. But…" he suddenly became aware of their odd garbs and weaponry, "ya'll do look like ya'd fare enough against 'em."

"We'll take the ride," Brent brushed the man's observation aside. "Thank you."

"No problem." The driver tipped his hat and grinned through his mustache, revealing a black tooth. "Name's Tyson by the way. Glad ta be o' service! Whadda ya'll call yerselves?"

"Brent."

"Link."

"Renée."

"Katrina."

"Dijonay."

"Morbex."

"Mekial."

"Ya'll got some interestin' names there, doncha?" Tyson dropped his hand from his hat. "Well, ol' Fel here'll lead ya'll back to that wagon he mentioned – woncha, Fel?"

Fel grunted in reply and without another sound changed the direction of his steed so that it was facing the other wheeled vehicles. Turning his head slightly he tipped it in the direction that he was facing, indicating that he desired the newcomers to follow him. Obediently they did so; however Link remained where he was and hauled himself into Epona's saddle.

The wagon that Fel had spoken of was the third vehicle down the train and, as Tyson had figured, was indeed crowded. Even so, there was still enough room for the foreigners to comfortably sit down amongst the crates and boxes of fabric and clothing accessories.

A few more people were also inside of the vehicle: excluding the driver there was an elderly woman, a man – who was sound asleep – and a girl who was probably around Dijonay's age. Curiously she watched the newcomers settle in and let her gaze double back to Brent. Feeling her watching eyes he met her stare, which she quickly broke with a flush of her cheeks and a forced cough.

"They will be riding with us until we reach the north," Fel explained to the others curtly and with that statement departed to return to the front of the line. No sooner had he disappeared did the vehicle wobble back into motion.

"So what makes ya'll wanna head up to that there Domain?" Tyson inquired lightly, glancing at Link in his side vision.

"We're looking for something," Link replied after a moment. "But we have to pass through the Domain before we can get it."

"Ah, I see! Ya'll are questin'!" Tyson laughed. "I remember those good ol' days, back when ridin' through the open fields was better'n any feelin' in the world. But I couldn't live like that forever: eventually cut back and took up my dad's tradin' business. Hasn't been too bad, though. Actually livin' a lot safer…well, used to anyway."

"…'Safer'?" Link echoed, raising an eyebrow in interest.

"Well, back where we're from things have been gettin' a little hectic," Tyson replied, the liveliness in his tone dimming. "Our queen went missin', and the government's still tryin' to figure it all out. They say they don't know but some people reckon they do."

Link was quiet for a second. "They think the government is hiding something?"

"I do, too!" Tyson burst, startling one of his horses and causing it to snort with a shake of its glossy mane. "But that's just my opinion. Can't go around blastin' conspiracy theories all over the place. Ain't good for business, 'specially when yer a merchant, like us."

"Where're you all from?" was Link's next inquiry.

"All over," was the answer. "Merchants go where business is. Most of us just came from Lendare southeast o' here. But down there the higher-ups suddenly started tryin' to regulate the trade market, 'specially the tradin' of iron 'n' steel 'n' such, which is what I sell, so we're headed to the west to start fresh in Opria. Hear things are calmer there."

"Do you only sell weapons?"

"Nah, we got some other stuff. Have somethin' specific in mind?"

"Nothing special." Link refocused on the trail. "Just cloaks."

"We got plenty!" Tyson cheered. "I'm sure Mirabel'll be willin' to sell some to ya."

Presuming that this Mirabel was the one who managed the sales of cloaks Link simply nodded, steering Epona further into the path as a pair of mountains rose in front of them to mark the start of the pass that bridged Faron into Lanayru.

Their journey along this road was mostly uneventful, highlighted only by the occasional, friendly chats that Tyson would try to start with Link or the small talks that went on with his allies in the third car. The path also became rather bumpy as the smooth face of the dirt road became jagged and deformed by the rockiness of the mountain trail.

When not answering one of Tyson's many questions or subconsciously ignoring his anecdotes, Link found his mind to be circling around the information the tradesman had first given him. Although he was not directly affected, the fact that the ruler of this party had mysteriously gone missing unnerved him, as did the prospect that their government was somehow in on the disappearance. It was doubtless that Malbex had played some sort of part in the tale, and Link quickly figured that the plight of other neighboring countries had also been his doing.

At this thought he wondered if the envious prince was even disturbing Arkania. But with that place being an empire and divided into he-didn't-know-how-many provinces, would he even be able to pull it off?

Link shook the wonder away. It didn't matter what Malbex was trying to do now – all he knew was that he had to stop him as soon as possible.

_Otherwise…_

His grasp on Epona's reins stiffened as he pictured the earth crumbling away, creating a black chasm that dragged all living things into dismal darkness. His eyes tightened.

Nighttime was nearly upon them by the time the caravan was brought to a halt and campfires began to be built. Noticing how much time the travelers were taking with making these little fires Mekial made his way to each of them, snapping his fingers and sending sparks dancing into the firewood where they ignited into glowing flames.

"…He seems to be trying to spread his influence and gain more land," Morbex was saying when the mage returned to the miniature campsite his allies had established.

He plopped down beside his sister and, after looking between each of their grim faces, quietly requested a summary of what was going on. Renée in turn relayed Tyson's story, which Link had just recently told them, and added in how they theorized that the loss of Tyson's queen was related to Malbex's plot.

"Say, Prince Morbex," she said, turning from her brother and attracting the imp's eyes. "You said your country has a 'pact' with the goddesses, right?" The child nodded. "So…just out of curiosity, what exactly _will_ happen if you break it?"

"I'm not entirely sure," he answered, lowering his red irises to the fire. "I've tried looking it up in the Palace's archives, but I didn't really find much. It might just be knowledge that only certain people in Eldonis have, such as my parents or members of the High Council."

"So you probably would learn about it when you become king?" Brent figured.

"Probably."

"Whatever it is, it doesn't seem like much of anything's happened yet," Katrina noted, resting her back on the face of a large stone and crossing her ankles.

"Not like that's reassuring or anything," Brent said, and his eyes drifted away from the party towards another group nearby. Was it his imagination or had that girl from the wagon been staring at him again?

"All the more reason to work fast," Renée proclaimed. "Joining with these merchants is making our travel a lot quicker – I bet we'd probably still be on our way to this trail if it wasn't for their help."

"It's likely," Link agreed and reached over to Epona, who was lying down behind him, and dug through one of her bags. "We were lucky they turned up. In the meantime, we should make the most of this break." Closing his hand around what he recognized to be a pack of salted meat, he drew it out. "Who's hungry?"

As the others granted their attention to the Hyrulean and made to help with meal preparations, Dijonay's eyes wandered across the starlit horizon until they nestled on the black outline of Hyrule Castle. Its tallest spires were just barely peeking over the mountain range that enclosed the trail but even so she could still see it, could still picture the entirety of the structure in her mind's eye.

So much had happened there, she recalled, so much that had delayed their journey and had threatened the lives of four of her comrades. Upon drawing this memory to the surface of reflection she looked down at the ex-captives, creasing her eyebrows with a pained and guilty look.

It was her fault that they had nearly been killed, all because she had been uncertain. Often she wondered what would have happened had she informed them of her vision: would everything have turned out the same or would something have changed?

Either way, did it even matter now?

They were all safe, breathing and unscathed as they made their way to the next shard of Power. Even if she were to inform them of what she had known back then, it would do little for them.

But then again, would it not be fair for them to know?

Dijonay's fingers tumbled into her lap where they twisted and fumbled around the hem of her dress. She could distinctly remember when she had told Mekial what she had known. His glare had been wholehearted, his indignation visible. In all truth, she was not entirely sure that she wanted her entire party to feel that same way with her all at once. But then again, it was not as though they would all react the same way that Mekial had.

Would they?

The prime minister tore her vision away from her allies to stare at a tiny pebble sitting beside her. With her mind swimming between her options she stared at the tiny rock's shadow, watching as it flickered and jumped in the light of the crackling fire. Then, she took a deep breath and replaced her mentality in the present.

"I must…" Her voice was soft, drawing no attention and so she spoke again, louder this time, "I must…tell you all something."

Sensing the seriousness in her tone they all turned to her respectively, waiting for the emission of her next words. Hesitation mounting the young ruler proceeded to take a slow intake of breath and then, before she could allow her doubt to sway her mind once more, she plunged into her confession.

When her story drew to a close she bit her lip, looking from one of her allies' faces to the other in anticipation of the worst. Mekial's visage was turned away, as he had already heard the story but, after participating in the rescue of his allies, had granted Dijonay his promised forgiveness. Even so, he had not completely gotten over the fact that she had at first chosen to do nothing.

The crackling of Mekial's flame filled the air around them and the hum of crickets that lounged in scattered patches of grass seemed to have increased tenfold. Finally, Katrina took the liberty to speak.

"It's things like this that make me wonder why a fourteen-year-old girl was made the prime minister of a country," she said spitefully as she adjusted her seating. "I don't think you get how important it would have been to tell us that earlier." Dijonay lowered her eyes.

"I agree with Katrina," Renée put in. "If we'd known we would've gotten arrested, we probably would've just skipped town and went straight to the forest." She looked away, frowning thoughtfully. "Then again, if we knew the Deku Tree was gonna keep the shard from us, too, then we would've just skipped straight to Snowpeak." She refocused her attention on Dijonay. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Worriedly, the girl looked between Renée, Brent and Link. "B-because… Because I was… I was uncertain." She clenched the fabric of her dress. "Because… I did not know if I could trust any of you anymore."

Renée blinked confusedly, while Brent released a curt "oh" of understanding. The Arkanian looked up at him, wordlessly hoping for him to explain.

"It's because we're Hylians, isn't it?" The blue-haired teen indicated Katrina and Link with his eyes then looked back at Dijonay.

And she, though desirous of looking away could not do so, as though paralyzed by the fact that Brent had uncovered her motive so easily.

Noting Dijonay's rigid posture and the bite that was apparent in Brent's tone Morbex looked between them, furrowing his small silver eyebrows as he struggled to find the connection between Brent's statement and the decision Dijonay had made.

Dijonay cast her eyes to the ground and her eyebrows puckered, giving her such a melancholic expression that it almost looked as though she would simply dissolve into a pool of despair. But contrary to this belief the girl spoke up once more, gaining vigor with every word she released.

"I did not ever tell any of you why I had originally come on this journey, did I?" Her eyes panned across their faces, then lingered upon the visage of her elder sibling. "Brent…after father disowned you, he taught me that Hylians were evil, and that that was why he had to 'get rid' of you." Brent's eyes narrowed, but he did not look away. Dijonay turned to the others. "I was taught by my teachers that Hylians were despicable and cruel and selfish. And so for the longest time I believed that that was true.

"And then I learned about the Isle Massacre and, after the initial report, other soldiers informed me that circulating rumors claimed a Hylian had been responsible for it all. And so I believed in the Arkanian Lie even more.

"Then I had that vision and when I got to the capital and saw all of those people…" She faltered, covering her mouth as the horrendous image of the corpse-infested capital flashed in her mind's eye. "I thought that somehow, perhaps, Link had been a part of it all before we met him and so…I said nothing. Because I believed that everything I had been taught had finally been confirmed. But then the town doctor told me how all of those people had been killed, and we learned about Tentra and Alexandria and…and I realized that it had all been wrong. That my teachers, my father, Arkanians…we had all been so terribly wrong…" She paused, exhaling slowly.

"I have recently been told that I should make my own judgment of people," she went on, "instead of basing it off of what I am told. And I have decided to believe…that it is not the Hylians that are evil, nor is it the humans. There is…a mix of good and bad people everywhere. I cannot look at one specific race and label them my enemy. So now…" She looked to Brent and Renée, her expression one of resolve. "Here and now, I promise both of you: I will free the Hylians upon our return home. No longer will Hylians in the Arkanian Province be oppressed – but instead, it will be the first province of the Arkanian Empire to attempt a peace between those of Hylian descent and everyone else. I believe…that the goddesses would have wanted it that way."

Renée smiled gently, and then craned her neck to look at Brent. Upon seeing his harsh expression however, her countenance fell.

"Well, that's pretty much why we were here in the first place," he said, leaning back. "Good to see you don't think all of us are bad." Dijonay repaid this with a tired smile and a short nod.

"And I also swear to you all that I will not hide my visions from you any longer," she added. "From now on, I will try to change what looks to be determined; I will no longer accept the future as the present.

"…Link," she directed her eyes to the Hyrulean specifically and the resolute look in her gaze faded to be replaced with one of deep regret. "I wholeheartedly apologize for what you went through in the capital," she said. "And you three as well." She rested her eyes on Brent, Renée and Katrina before returning them to Link. "I am also very sorry for having doubted you." Shame immersed itself in her countenance. "Please, forgive me…"

The smile that Link gave her nearly tore her heart in two. "Well, it's in the past," he said and, out of the guilt that still festered in the deepest part of her being, Dijonay did not allow herself to look the man in the eye. "Right now, we should just keep moving forward."

"I agree." Renée nodded and patted Dijonay on the shoulder. "It's over now. But we're counting on you for the next vision that you get!"

"Yeah, I guess it's whatever now," Brent put in, waving a hand as though to shoo away the topic. Though unlike Link and Renée, his manner was not easy.

"…Hmph." Katrina shifted against the boulder she was leaning on and crossed her arms over her chest, letting her eyelids fall shut. "Since we're still alive, there's no reason to think about it anymore."

Dijonay wiped her eyes and, although glad that her apology had been accepted, could not deny the remorse that still weighed heavily in her soul.

It was not until the faint scent of cooked meat wafted from the fire did Katrina reopen her eyes, groggily detaching from light slumber as the nightly world shifted back into focus. As the blurry silhouettes of merchants, their families and campfires solidified, a distant pair of glowing red dots attracted her bleary gaze.

Frowning, she lifted her head to get a better view of the peculiar illumination and soon discovered that it was actually a pair of beady, scarlet eyes. Slowly, the shadowy body that the red orbs belonged to moved, pulling an elbow back and positioning the other arm to point down at the encampment.

Eyes widening and her mind shunted into high alert Katrina sprang to her feet. Her allies watched her, mutely confused before revolving into apprehension when her left hand flew to her back, snatching the bow and an arrow from her quiver.

But the ambusher was quicker, launching its own arrow from the dusky cover of night and barking victoriously as its flaming head lodged into a wagon. The flames quickly spread to devour the vehicle's covering and a scream sprawled out, shocking the campsite and alerting all of the sudden strike. Someone fell out of the flaming carriage, hands over their head and others rushed to put the fire out.

Eyes narrowed Katrina fitted her arrow into the bowstring, aimed and let it fly: with a distant _schlump _of pierced flesh the bulbin tottered, the arrow sticking out of its chest as it dropped its weapon and tumbled from the cliff with a gurgled wail.

But even as Katrina had released the projectile her eyes slid across the hills that encircled the pass, pinpointing another set of glowing red eyes, then another, and another, until her mind had quickly calculated the presence of over twenty of the Hyrulean monsters standing there, bows raised and flaming arrows poised to strike.

Cursing she switched the aim of her bow to the closest one, but no sooner had she turned did the beasts release their bowstrings, sending flaming arrows into the sky. Like rockets they shot into the heavens, hovered for a moment and then flipped down to rain on the victims below.

Mekial took the initiative, jumping to his feet and uttering a short verse at a speedy whisper. As the terrified screams of the merchants and their families skyrocketed he waved his arms in grand circles, gathering the air around him into a centered cluster of wind. Faint light glimmered in the center of his forehead, emanating from the tiny stone that had been rooted there until it died with the end of his incantation. As its light faded the gleam of the ever-nearing arrows grew in strength, setting the soil aflame by their mere approach.

Right when the caravan-members feared that they would be impaled the mage swung his arms outward, releasing gales that knocked them off their feet and sent the wooden bullets spiraling and clattering against the mountainsides, extinguished. As they plopped to the ground, all eyes registered the bulbins' absence.

Link found no assurance in this.

"Tyson!" he called, catching the man as he hustled by. "Get your wagon ready and lead everyone out of here. Knowing those things, they'll come back."

"Aye-aye, Sir!" the merchant cried, trusting Link's judgment. He turned to his companions and proceeded to rally them together, claiming that if they wanted to survive they had to leave the pass as quickly as they could.

"Ren, we're going with them," Brent declared, jabbing a thumb at the departing caravan. "I didn't like those numbers. And if those things are coming back like Link said, then those people are going to need help."

Renée nodded. "Right."

"I'll go with you," Mekial offered and Brent tipped his head in acknowledgement.

"I, too." Dijonay stepped forward.

Link refocused on the road that led back out into Faron. "Prince Morbex, go along with them," he ordered over his shoulder. "If anything, you'll be safer in a wagon than out in the open."

"…I understand." Morbex took a couple of steps back. Then, "Be careful."

"I'll be fine," Link assured him with the flicker of a smirk. "I've handled worse."

"…Don't think you're in it alone." Katrina pointed a thumb at herself, drawing Link's eye. "I'm staying." Link looked at her for a second and then gave a curt nod of his head.

"All right, let's go." Brent started away from the group with Mekial, Renée and Morbex in tow. Dijonay stood her ground.

"Link." Her voice had regained the tone of authority that it carried in Arkania and, identifying the underlying order in her call, Link looked down at her. "I expect you to meet up with us. You as well, Katrina."

"We'll be there," Katrina said dismissively, drawing another arrow from her quiver. Dijonay said nothing, instead pivoting to face the others and joining with the last of the convoy as it rounded a corner and continued through the pass.

No sooner had they disappeared did a team of boars suddenly thunder down the hillsides, scrambling down the rocky slopes faster than their enormous bodies could handle. Some slipped and stumbled into the abandoned camp whereas others skidded down, turning their large, pig snouts in the direction that the caravan had gone. Katrina eyed the red-eyed warthogs with appalled distaste, having never known that they could grow to such a size.

Casting her surprise aside the girl looked to the things that were riding on the backs of the massive animals: comforted by a saddle, two bulbins were riding on each horse-sized pig, one manning the reins whilst the other carried a tacky bow.

With a quick, sweeping gaze Katrina knew that she and Link were completely surrounded – but, if anything, most of the monsters had decided to stop and allow this pair of decoys to distract them from their main prey. Although that did not entirely bode well for the two Hylians, they knew that they would at least be able to buy the merchants time to distance themselves.

Link brought two fingers to his mouth and whistled, making sure to do it shrilly enough for his mare to hear over the mindless chattering of the enclosing monsters.

Epona, who had been quickly encircled by a group of bulbins that had dismounted in order to fish through the packs hanging from her saddle, neighed loudly and reared up on her hind legs, kicking her front hooves and sending one of the bulbins careening backward. Startled by her sudden hostility the others stumbled back, granting her the room she needed to make a mad dash for her master.

Spotting the incoming horse Link snatched Katrina by the arm before she could finish readying an arrow and, as Epona galloped towards them, he ran forward and swung into the saddle, pulling Katrina along so that she fell in behind him.

She grunted with her landing and though slightly sore and stunned by what had happened, returned to preparing her weapon. In front of her, Link drew his sword.

"Hit the ones in front!" he instructed, urging Epona to avoid a storm of projectiles. "They'll lose control!"

"Got it!" Arching her back and raising her bow up the girl released a dart.

Zipping forth as if it had been fired from a cannon the arrow drove into the skull of a front-seat bulbin.

The carcass toppled off of the saddle almost instantly and seized by blind panic its boar ran wild, bucking and screaming until it smashed its head into a boulder and slumped to the ground, motionless.

"And the other one!" Link shouted. Before the last of his sentence could even come out another arrow was blasted from the girl's bow, twirling in flight and twisting into the second monster's neck.

As the beast swayed, the light of life leaving its tiny red eyes, Link drew his sword and held it aloft, bearing it at such an angle that moonlight glared along the blade. He steered closer to another pair of the mounted bulbins. _"Duck!"_

Katrina hunched down and he rotated his arm, spinning his sword in a wide circle that severed the fiends from their saddle. Growling fiercely the now unmanned swine veered to the left, ramming into Epona's side and guiding her towards a flat-faced boulder.

Working with the momentum Link drove the horse into a hard turn, narrowly avoiding the obstacle and leaving the boar to crash into it alone. As the mare leveled out Katrina poised another arrow and freed it, letting it slam between the eyes of a hog that was being steered in their direction. Squealing manically it careened off course, forcing its masters to cling to its back for fear of their lives. Taking advantage of this Link rushed forward to dismount them with a simple, pinpointed strike.

Despite the unfair odds the Hylians held fast to this strategy, Katrina unleashing a storm of arrows and Epona barreling through the throng of monsters, enabling Link to slash and stab at any of the monstrous bandits that were drawn into his range.

But the midget-sized goblins proved themselves no fools, reorganizing their formation so that the pairs furthest from their opponents focused on flaming arrow barrages while the ones that were closer swung their clubs at them in the hopes of causing injury.

Ducking beneath a wide swipe of one of the bulky weapons Link lowered his sword, clutching the reins in his opposite hand and forcing Epona to swivel and swerve out of range. Between every sharp turn that he made, he spotted a few bulbins breaking free of the mob to ride up the pass, gurgled shouts of triumph rattling out of their throats as they gave chase to the merchants somewhere ahead.

Katrina noticed this as well but before she could mention her observation Link spurred Epona in that direction, his head low as the lingering group of bulbins behind them let loose an angry outpour of wooden missiles. Most were way off or cracked against the rocky walls of the trail while others just barely missed; one even brushed so close to Katrina's face that she could feel the heat its flaming tip produced.

"My shield!" Link hollered, pulling Epona's head to the right in acknowledgement of the curving road. "Take it and guard our backs!"

The Corvenian slipped her bow back into her quiver and unequipped Link's shield, quickly seizing it with both hands upon learning its hefty weight. She then held the protective item behind her and instantly it shook with the impact of a deflected arrowhead. Swallowing, she reinforced her grip.

The bulbins that had managed to escape were coming into view now and Link's hand went to his belt pouch, drawing from it his own bow and a full quiver. Katrina voiced no inquiries.

Striking Epona's sides one last time Link straightened up and launched a trio of arrows, killing two of the infamous beasts and stunning a third. Behind him Katrina grunted when the shield quaked from another attack.

Lowering his weapon the Hylian whirled around, calling for Katrina to return his shield so as to free her hands. Obediently she did so and retrieved her bow, and opened fire almost as soon as her fingers closed around the grip.

Although she managed to stun the monsters long enough for Link to rush in for the finishing blow they could not take all of them down at once and so Link changed directions, galloping back up the hill. Katrina took hold of his shield again, guarding them from the unending rain of attacks as Link raised his sword to strike the beasts ahead of them.

No sooner had he made it to them did his mare pull up to the crown of the incline, giving him a solid view of the merchant caravan. With a mini-army of boar-wrangling bandits coming from behind and a mountain-based group of archers attacking from above, their situation looked no better than his.

With a series of small hacks Link cut a bulbin out of its saddle, freeing yet another rampaging warthog that smashed its skull into the side of the trail. Light flickered somewhere ahead of him and his head went forward in search of the glow's source.

A scream sounded from the same direction, steering his eyes to a wagon that was igniting into a moving bonfire. Just as the hero made to trade his sword for the Gale Boomerang a heavy wind washed over the cart, blowing the fires into the dark of the night.

Epona hopped and leaped over a scattered mess of fallen boars and goblins as she raced towards the caravan and as they pulled to the front of the last car they found Mekial to be standing beside its driver, legs spread out and one hand clutching the wagon's partly visible frame.

The fiendish bark of a goblin came from Katrina's side and, seeing that it would be impossible for her to attack and hold the shield up at the same time, Link ran his blade through the creature's side, bathing the weapon in what looked like violet blood.

Howling in pain the monster slid out of its saddle and rolled back through the dirt, its limbs flapping uncontrollably as it tumbled away to be trampled by the team of swine that still came up on the convoy's rear.

The wagon directly in front of Mekial was the next to catch fire. Sparing no time he cupped his free hand into the shape of an 'o' and brought it to his lips, and through it forced a lungful of air that burst from his hand as a controlled tunnel of wind. It spiraled forth powerfully, extinguishing the rising flames in one passing.

Seeing movement in the side of his eye the boy readied himself for another battle, only to find that the pair was riding a horse rather than an oversized pig – they also looked human.

"Link! Katrina!" As he cried out Link thwacked another creature off of its ride, leaving it to the tumble to the ground with a choked yell.

There was something different in the Hyrulean's look, Mekial noticed, something fearsome and wild – but he disregarded it when the man gave him his attention in the form of a sideways stare. Katrina, too, looked up at him, though the soulless scowl that usually settled across her features had moved away, making room for a strained and somewhat worrisome look.

Mekial presumed it had something to do with the shield on her back. "You're okay!"

"We got rid of as many as we could," Link called to him, steering out of the path of an oncoming rock. Two hogs behind him smashed into it, sending their masters flying over it where they face-planted the rough soil. "Where's everyone else?"

Mekial pointed at the wagon bed and Link fell back until he was directly behind the vehicle. Brent and Morbex were the only ones there.

Before Link could speak Brent marched towards the edge of the bed and hurled a sizzling object out at the persistent bandits. Seconds after it had been thrown the spherical item detonated with a deafening roar, erupting into billowing clouds of smoke and flashes of fire.

Tremors ran through Link's shield, shuddering through Katrina's arms and horrid, beastly screams rent the night air.

"This woman's a bomb salesman," Brent informed Link's bewildered look. "Pretty handy, huh?"

"Where're Renée and Dijonay?" Link questioned, overcoming his shock and ignoring the Arkanian's words. The rumbling of boar hooves had died completely, indicating that Brent had either annihilated the remaining enemies or frightened them off.

"They should be a few wagons ahead, helping some people who got injured in the first attack," Brent answered seriously. "They're fine." His eyes wandered up the road to see a few surviving bulbins standing there, waving their clubs at the distancing caravan, and then looked to the high cliffs to see that the bulbin archers had ceased their assault. "Finally – "

A sharp gasp cut his speech short and his body went rigid, eyes fastened onto a figure above. But when he blinked the being was gone, either obscured by a misshapen boulder or having vanished altogether.

Behind him Morbex also stiffened upon descrying his brother's face on the hill, paler in the moonlight as he watched the bumbling wagon train with a cold, red-eyed stare.

"What is it?" Katrina strapped Link's shield to his back and twisted to follow Brent's eyes.

"Thought I saw something." Brent relaxed and eased himself into a sitting position as the wagon bounced over a lump. "But…it's nothing." But his downcast and troubled visage did little to agree with his words.

Morbex said nothing, instead turning to close the crate of explosives that he and Brent had used in the recent skirmish. Once it had been shut he returned his eyes to the craggy hilltops – there was no one there now.


	70. Chapter 69

**Chapter Sixty-Nine**

The caravan did not stop to rest until it had left the pass and crossed over the rubble-infested Great Bridge of Hylia. By then the rays of dawn were peeking over the horizon, gleaming across the surface of the lake that was situated beneath the ancient expansion and illuminating the shadowy eyes of the fatigued travelers. Wearily they halted their vehicles in the open field on the bridge's opposing end and set up camp again, though checked to ensure that everyone was accounted for before completely settling down.

Mid-afternoon was when the merchants were ready to set off again. Fully rested and being supplied with a more-than satisfying meal Link and the others accompanied them, the foreigners climbing into the wagon while Link readied Epona and rode alongside them.

The capital's western fields were waiting just outside of the Lake Hylia region and it was here that some of the merchants broke off, stating that Hyrule had a good market for the wares that they carried.

Before joining with them a lone woman approached Link, arms loaded with a thick pile of winter her large, circular glasses and dark hair pulled away from her lightly colored face, she looked more like a librarian than a tradesman.

She introduced herself as Mirabel and offered the cloaks to Link, voicing her gratitude for the help of him and his allies and refusing payment. She even added that she wished she could do more for their brave efforts.

"Believe me," the Hylian smiled in appreciation, "letting us have these is really all we need. Thank you."

Mirabel smiled back pleasantly and she turned to regroup with her companions in the march to the capital. As she walked away Mekial pointed at the cloaks that Link carried, wiggling his finger with a short incantation until six of the great robes floated right out of the man's arms and towards him in the wagon.

At first startled, Link watched the hovering fabric until he learned that it was Mekial's doing and eased up with a light laugh.

Night had nearly fallen by the time they reached the road that led to Zora's Domain, letting a soft blend of orange and purple light fall across the land. Calling out their gratitude Link's allies climbed out of the wagon bed they had been in, stretching cramped muscles or stomping life back into their feet. Their elongated shadows mirrored their movements, reaching for trees that stood yards away and straining to crawl into their branches.

"Thanks a ton for your help with that crazy ambush," Tyson called out from his seat. "Sure was smart of us to let ya'll climb aboard!"

"The stuff ya'll got in those wagons there're just too darn good fer them monsters to resist," Brent said. "Best ta stay sharp from here on out!"

Picking up on the imitation Tyson hooted with laughter, and then tipped his straw hat to them. "We'll keep our wits about," he assured them. "Well –"

"W-wait!" Tyson stopped at the new voice and directed his eyes to a young girl that was running towards them, holding something in her small hands. After a short moment, Brent recognized her as the one who had constantly let her eyes roam towards him. "Wait…" she gasped again and paused to bend over her knees and catch her breath. "P-please…"

"Aw, you came to say 'bye, too, Avery?" Tyson asked, leaning forward to get a better view of her. "What's that you got there?"

"I…I'm grateful," the girl said once she could breathe again, raising her chin to look at the oddly garbed travelers. It was in that moment that they realized she bore a striking resemblance to Fel, specifically in the eyes; yet, unlike him her gaze was softer, kinder, as was her more round face which was neatly framed by naturally curling hair. "Thank you for saving us," she went on, "and I…u-uh…" She dropped her eyes as her face took on a deep shade of red and then let them flicker back to Brent's face. "I…I want you to have this!" She spurted the words out before she could catch herself and she snatched his hand, placing something in his palm. "P-please take care!"

She took off before Brent could thank her, sprinting back towards her wagon and out of sight. Tyson chuckled after her as Brent looked down at his hand, unfurling his fingers to reveal what the girl had placed there.

It was a talisman, he realized quickly, though judging by the lack of a necklace it was more likely a charm. With its nearly perfect edges and nicely carved design of a two-tailed bird spreading its wings, Brent wondered exactly how much time the girl had put into making it.

"Ah, that Avery," Tyson mused, looking down at Brent's gift. "Got as much talent as her father. Sure can be bold when she wants to be."

" 'Bold'?" Renée echoed and she slid Brent a sly look paired with an elbow nudge. He brushed her off and tucked the accessory into his pocket.

"Well, we're off," Tyson waved to them. "Ya'll take care, now!"

Calling out their own individual goodbyes the group waved back, watching as the wagons and their accompanying horsemen rode down the slope beside the road and turned north at the hill's base, destined for the calm fields of Opria.

Once they had gone Link proceeded to lead his company up the hill and towards the passage that led to Zora's Domain. Upon reaching the dark tunnel they journeyed into it, temporarily shrouded in the bowels of darkness before emerging in the great, glossy grotto that was the aquatic Domain.

Curvy stone pillars marked the edge of the drop-off just outside of the tunnel and ran along the edge of the cliff all the way up to a steep set of stairs far to the left. Beyond these patterned structures and sitting far below was the Zoras' main body of water, its crystal liquids flowing out of the basin and into an attached river that meandered out of the area.

Gushing waterfalls cascaded into the pool, slipping over ledges and other precipices as they poured out of holes in the grotto's walls or toppled off of cliffs further up. One of these shimmering bodies of water hung directly in front of them, roaring in their ears and moistening the air around them.

One waterfall stood out amongst the rest, wider and heavier than all the others: it tumbled off the edge of a crag at the front of the open-ceilinged cavern and, shortly, Dijonay thought she spotted a peculiarly-shaped fish swimming through it. But when she blinked, the creature was gone.

Leaving Epona behind and looking about in wonder the group trailed after Link as he led them along the platform, mesmerized by the overall beauty that the grand cavern had been blessed with. Their booted footsteps echoed against the smooth walls around them and seemed to magnify when they entered the sharply sloping incline up ahead, which carried them up to the highest part of the domain.

From here, they could see every part of the habitat, from the dark passage that they had entered to the deepest parts of the basin. They could even see little figures swimming through it and it was at this point Dijonay realized that she had not been seeing things earlier.

Weaving and spinning beneath the water, the "fishes" that she had spotted actually proved to be human-like, aquatic creatures, donning elegant pectoral fins on their arms and large webbed feet that propelled them around. Some wore helmets shaped like the snouts of regular fish while others did not, flaunting their humanoid faces and blinking large, green eyes.

"Are those…Zoras?" Dijonay asked, turning to face Link. He nodded.

"We should stop to rest," he said. "This way." With that he walked towards a tall cave behind them, which bore intricate and curvy archways evenly spaced throughout. The great waterfall retreated up this way as well and, upon coming out on the other end of the tunnel, it was found that its source was a deep well placed in the center of a circular cave.

Like the realm outside there was a small opening in the rocky ceiling, allowing a steady stream of moonlight to glance against the waters below. Stairs circled around the water basin and scattered across it stood more Zoras, dipping their feet in the water and chatting merrily or diving into the water headfirst. Stalactites merged with stalagmites to form pillars that circled around the basin, and in between them were purple gates with different designs depicted on each of them.

Link led the others followed these gates around and within seconds they came upon a throne decorated with leaves, seashells and conches. Standing on either side of this seat were two Zoras, each sporting a hefty helmet that, in all truth, looked far too big for their bodies. The one closest to them was the first to notice their approach.

"Welcome, travelers," she greeted, nodding to each of them, "to Zora's Domain." In the next instant, she recognized the green-clad Hylian at the front of the group. "Ah, Link! It's good to see you again."

"Link?" a voice echoed and the Zora sitting in the throne leaned forward to see his new company. Upon spotting Link's face Ralis, the prince of the Zoras, allowed a great smile to take his countenance. "Link!"

Smiling in greeting, Link circled the throne to face the young prince respectfully. He was still smaller than the other Zoras but somewhere in his large, emerald eyes there was a sense of emotional growth.

"And I see you have brought some others with you." The ruler looked across each of the foreigners' faces, smiling pleasantly. "I am Prince Ralis, and as ruler of the Zoras I humbly welcome you to our village. I ask that you all please, make yourselves at home. But…" He directed puzzled eyes to Link. "What makes you come here at such a late hour?"

"Sorry to be dropping in like this," Link started, "but we were planning on going into Snowpeak in the morning. Would it be all right if we camped here for the night?"

"Ah, I see." Ralis nodded in understanding, his smile fading. "Though, I do not know about going into Snowpeak at such a time as this: we have been hearing fearsome roars through the tunnel that connects our village and the mountains. Although they are far off, I cannot say whether or not it would be safe for you all."

"Roars?" Mekial repeated. Ralis lowered his eyes to him.

"Yes – like no other monster that I've heard before."

"Unfortunately, we can't let that stop us," Link said, regaining Ralis' focus. "There's something important that we need to do up there."

"I see…" Ralis looked distraught for a moment but then found his peace once more. "You are ever committed, as always." His eyes moved to one of the soldiers beside him. "Teletha, please prepare a room for our guests."

"Yes, Your Highness." The Zora knight turned to him with a bow then walked away. Ralis returned his eyes to the group before him.

"We are still learning how to care for human visitors," he stated, "so the room may not be…up to par with current living spaces for your kind. I apologize."

"Not at all," Link shook his head. "Sleeping here would be better than sleeping out in the fields."

Ralis smiled lightly, comforted by Link's humble attitude. But then as an inquiry was drawn up in his thoughts, his content expression faded. "Might I ask," he began slowly, looking between their faces, "what it is that is so very important?"

"I…" Ralis' eyes again returned to Link, this time in expectancy, but he frowned when he saw that the Hyrulean was furrowing his brow in slight discomfort. "A-ah… Ouch!"

Practically bouncing on his feet Link's hand flew into his belt pouch and snapped back out, clutching a tiny red stone in his fist. Even as he held it the burning sensation it had released against his backside began to ease until, finally, it was cool again.

When Link's fingers unfurled to reveal the tiny gem, Renée stared at it in mild astonishment. "Kinda forgot about that."

"It's been a bit unstable lately," Link said, rubbing the slight sting he could still feel. "But it hasn't gotten that hot since…well, since you used it to blow up the mines." Renée blushed.

"That small stone…blew up the mines?" Ralis questioned more so intrigued than surprised. "You mean the Goron Mines?"

"Y-yes," Renée rubbed the back of her neck. "I found it there weeks ago. Some…monster was holding on to it."

Wordlessly Ralis held his webbed hand out to Link and, figuring what he meant, the Hylian placed the powerful rock in his palm. The prince drew it up to his eyes and examined it closely, then held it between his forefinger and thumb. "It looks like a shard of something," he observed. "And it has explosive strength, you say. …It is just an assumption, but this could possibly be part of the Goron's Ruby."

"What's that?" Renée asked.

"According to the stories of my tribe, it is an ancient stone that used to be under the care of the Gorons," the Zora answered calmly. "There were two others like it: the Zora's Sapphire and the Kokiri Emerald. It is said that each stone possesses a unique power, and that power goes out of control if the stone housing it is broken."

"Where are the other stones?" Brent piped up inquisitively. Vaguely, he could remember hearing such a tale back in Arkania, along with every other Hyrulean legend that he had learned about.

"History tells us that the three stones were used by a hero long ago to open a sacred door," Ralis responded. "Ever since then, they have been lost. But to think that a piece of one could be right here…" He looked down at the little shard in his hand, and then gave it back to Link.

"Guess it just goes to show that any broken relic is pretty dangerous," Renée muttered. "If it keeps going off like that, how are we supposed to carry it?"

"Maybe we shouldn't carry it," Brent shrugged. "What if we just chucked it out in the mountains somewhere? That place is a wasteland, isn't it? No one would notice a tiny rock burning its way through the snow."

Ralis chuckled lightly. "Perhaps that would be safe for everyone."

No sooner had he said this did the knight he had ordered away return, claiming that the rooms were ready. To this Ralis requested that she take the others to them and, nodding her helmeted head, the Zora made to usher the foreigners towards their temporary quarters. Ralis waved to them politely, and also added that breakfast would be served to them in the morning.

The marine knight guided the group away from the throne and into an intersecting hallway, which was lined with numerous doors that were each decorated with sea coral and various seashells. After passing a few of these entries the guard stopped and indicated the rooms next to her with a finned arm.

Voicing their thanks the party split itself based on gender and filed into each room, where they were surprised to find that they were completely devoid of furniture. Despite their decorative entrances they stood more like caves, though with the glossy, smooth texture of the walls and two circular windows that beckoned in the refreshing sound of waterfalls from the largest section of the Domain, they were still comfortable.

Link retrieved Epona from the domain entrance shortly after and let the others claim their belongings in preparation of a satisfying night of rest. Once she had been stripped of nearly all of her extra baggage the horse plopped onto the ground and curled up, resting her head on her elbows and releasing a heavy sigh of relief.

"When we get to Snowpeak, we can ask some old friends of mine if they've noticed anything different," Link declared as he set up his sleeping bag in the room he was to be sharing with the males of the group. "They live deep in the mountains, so if something's changed they would know."

"You have friends in Snowpeak?" Mekial asked, making a quizzical face.

"Yep: the yeti."

"_Yeti_?" The mage looked at Brent and Morbex. "They're _real_?"

"Hey, with everything we've seen up until now," Brent held up his hands, "I wouldn't be surprised if the legend of the Arkanian Mauntales was real."

"Yeto and Yeta are the yeti that live in Snowpeak," Link went on to explain. "I don't know if there are any more, but they're friendly."

"As friendly as snowmen can get," Brent said with a puff as he flopped onto his sleeping bag. He groaned and held his back. "That was a bad idea…"

"They're as friendly as Gorons," Link corrected smartly and Brent's mind backtracked to his first encounter with the rock-eating creatures. The sight of one of them raising a hand to slap his back nearly made his spine give out.

"I'll pass on any back-breaking slaps or bone-crushing hugs."

"Same," Mekial chimed, undoing his cape and laying it over his blanket. "But I'm kind of excited. I've only read about yetis. Wait 'til the people at the Estate hear about it! …If they'll believe me." He made a face.

"Take a picture," Brent offered jokingly. "Just get one of those hefty pictograph boxes and…" He pretended to hold up a camera and pressed its button. "Cha_-KUNK!_"

Mekial looked at him, forcing back a laugh. "Type of camera is that?"

"My old one."

The boy laughed. "It _sounds_ old."

"Hey!" Brent shrugged with a light-hearted smile. "It got stuff done…"

Link rolled over as the two continued, bouncing between subjects for he didn't know how long. But the next thing he knew the world blackened and he fainted into the soft arms of sleep.


	71. Chapter 70

**Chapter Seventy**

Morbex did not know how long he had been lying in his makeshift bed, staring up at the smooth face of the guest chamber's rock ceiling. But when he finally decided to sit up and look out of the window between Link and Mekial's resting places, he presumed it had to be around midnight.

Silently he watched the slumbering pair and then let his eyes slide to where Brent was. Like the others he, too, had found a peaceful rest in his location.

Mekial had been the last to fall asleep, Morbex recalled, toying with a miniscule puddle of water in the corner until he had grown exhausted, dropping his arm in its extended position and letting the rush of the falls lull him to sleep. Even now his arm was still out, stretching for the pool but making no effort to touch it again.

Morbex could not deny that he was the frailest of the traveling band and, as such, was probably in need of more rest than they. But even so, his weak body could not relax. Perhaps it was due to the roaring waterfalls outside – or perhaps it was due to his anxiety of what awaited them in the mountains of Snowpeak. After all, had it not been mentioned that peculiar roars were coming out of that place?

Had he not been cursed, Morbex knew that he would not be worried about such things, mainly because if something terrible were to happen he would be able to defend both himself and any that were around him. But now he would merely get in the way.

So in the end was he actually helping Link on this journey, or was he just being a burden? Morbex cast his eyes to the sleeping Hyrulean at this inquiry before dropping them to the ground.

It could even be possible that the thought of his brother being in the pass on the way to the Domain was still bothering him. Brent had seen the man too, he knew, but at the same time he wondered if it had just been a trick of the moonlight. After all, it was not as though Malbex was following them around, was he?

The young prince lifted a knee and leaned his arm across it, drawing conclusions and ideas in his mind.

Then, he climbed out of the sleeping mat and tiptoed out of the room.

There were no Zoras present in the outer hallway, nor were there any in the throne room beyond. Like his allies, they were probably asleep. Though where, he did not really care to wonder.

As such it was in silence that Morbex circled the platform around the throne room and followed the tunnel that led out to the main waterfall. Upon his arrival at the cliff that marked the cascade drop point he paused, standing on the edge of the precipice as he looked on at the marine habitat.

The waterfalls roared in his elongated ears, erasing the familiar quiet of the night but at the same time offering a sort of tranquility to the atmosphere.

Carefully Morbex lowered himself into a sitting position, dangling his legs off the cliff and taking a deep breath, absorbing the moist night air.

"It's peaceful here, isn't it? Like the falls in the forest of Reyn."

Shaken, Morbex nearly toppled off the cliff in surprise. But he quickly reclaimed his balance and in the next second was on his feet, pivoting to find who had spoken. Upon identifying the voice's owner his red eyes narrowed and his entire body tensed.

Malbex unfolded his arms and took a few steps away from the throne-going tunnel, his lackluster eyes focused on the glistening beauty of the area. A soft but cold wind blew, tousling his luxurious silver hair and sending shivers racing across Morbex's body.

"This place really is something else, though," the man went on in that same monotonous speech. "It's majestic in a way that can't compare to any place in Eldonis. Or perhaps that's just because I've seen the places of Eldonis so much that their individual beauty is something I've outgrown."

"What are you here for?" Morbex's voice was tight, spiteful even. He had not entirely intended such a thing.

"It's been such a long time since we've seen each other," Malbex's blazing irises dropped to his impish relative, "and _that's_ the first thing you say?"

"Don't harass me." Morbex's tone of voice had not changed but the look in his eyes did, reverting from suspicion to a firm resolve and a subtle knowing of his higher authority. Malbex chuckled hollowly.

"Truthfully I wanted to find you earlier," he said dryly, "but you all looked a bit…busy."

Morbex's eyes tightened and he repeated his former question. "What do you want?"

"I see that the Crown Prince is no longer a shy bookworm." Malbex narrowed his eyes dangerously, secretly willing for the glare to cleave the cursed prince in half. "It's almost as though you're ready to take on your role as ruler. But it's a shame," he raised his nose and his scowl morphed into an emotionless stare, "that your preparation will be in vain."

Morbex loosened his stance only a little. "How do you figure?"

"How do you intend to rule Eldonis in the state that you're in?" Malbex bounced back. "As weak as you are, I presume that you can barely even walk long distances without getting weary. Isn't that right? And you can't undo the curse yourself…" A look of mock-pity crossed his face. "What are you to do?"

Morbex said nothing, sensing that there was something the man had yet to reveal. Then and much to his surprise, Malbex extended a hand to him.

"Whether you'll accept it or not, Morbex, we both desire the same thing." Morbex's eyes moved from Malbex's hand to his face. "The safety and happiness of our people." Still Morbex said nothing, reacting only by the slight flinching of his eyes' corners. "Join me in the creation of a world that the Eldonese can occupy without consequence, so that they won't have to live in the shadows any longer; we can wish for a new land that not even Father will be able to deny.

"Should you, I will gladly restore you to your true self – and Kelvis to his."

Morbex's heart skipped at the utterance of his dear friend's name and he gawked, one visible red eye wide. He could not possibly be serious, could he? Malbex would do such a thing for the two people who had openly rejected his ideas the most?

Morbex looked back at Malbex's offered hand and for a stunning second, he considered taking it.

But only for a second.

"No." The boy shook his head and then raised resolute eyes to his brother's visage. The man's insolent smile had quickly faded and a firm frown had taken its place. "I cannot – I _will _not. Joining you would undoubtedly determine the destruction of a world that is far too complex for people like us to even understand. And it would also seal the fate of two people whose lives are too important to put at stake."

"Ah…" Malbex smirked evilly and withdrew his hand. "The wielders, I'm guessing. And one is here, too, isn't he?"

Morbex did not respond.

"It doesn't matter." Malbex lifted his other hand and his sleeve rolled back, revealing the Grell wrapped around his wrist. "But know that in the end, this will be a decision you will regret." Bolts of blue light erupted from the Grell's surface, snapping through the air until stopping to claw open a portal. Strong winds excreted from it, adding to the already cold air and making Morbex's skin crawl. "I must say that I'm disappointed. I'd hoped that you would at least stop to consider the lives of those you hold dear."

"…W-wait!" Morbex took an advancing step, one hand out, but was too late: without hesitation the elder prince stepped into the portal and it zipped shut behind him, leaving the hill eerily silent.

Heart pounding Morbex stood, frozen, and then he sprinted back through the tunnel and dashed down the guest room corridor, panting and his heart thundering. Upon reaching the door of his room he opened it hurriedly, desperately – and he found that Link, Mekial and Brent were still there, undisturbed and as quiet as he had left them.

Not yet entirely relieved Morbex turned to head towards the girls' quarters, only to halt in his tracks when he saw a figure already standing in front of their door. His heart leaped to his throat, only to plummet back down when he realized who it was.

"M-Miss Dijonay…" He clutched his chest and his face grew pained as he fought to catch his breath.

Hearing this address the prime minister looked down, squinting through the darkness until she recognized Morbex's gasping figure a few feet down the hall. "Oh, Prince Morbex…" Her voice trailed off as she registered the heavy rise and fall of his shoulders.

"Miss Renée and Miss Katrina…" the imp began, then coughed, "are they in there?"

"Yes, they are still asleep. Did you need them for something?"

"N-no…"

Frowning in suspicion Dijonay leaned towards him, and then took a couple steps closer until his pale face became clearer. Her eyebrows pushed together concernedly. "Are you all right? You look awful…"

"I-it's nothing." Morbex swallowed, took a few more breaths and straightened his back. "I…I just had…a bit of a bad rest."

"Oh." The girl tilted back, though the look of sympathy never left her face. "Are you sure you will be all right?"

"Y-yeah…" Morbex glanced at the door behind him and then took a step towards it. "I'm going…back to bed."

"Yes." Dijonay nodded. "Good night."

"Good night." And with that Morbex left her presence, entering the guest room and quietly closing the door behind him. Dijonay eyed the door with an inquisitive look, then opened the door of her own quarters and stepped inside.

She had actually walked out upon hearing a strange succession of cracks and pops – having come from the Grell unbeknownst to her – but simply decided that the noise had been a trick of her tired imagination.

With a soft sigh Morbex sat down on his sleeping bag but did not lay upon it, instead planting his face in his hands as his mind replayed the offer that his brother had given him.

Could he really restore Kelvis' memories? The idea seemed likely but impractical all at once; what would Malbex gain by returning Kelvis to himself?

And what would he get out of lifting the spell he had cast on Morbex?

_Malbex…_

Morbex pulled out of his hands, allowing his eyes to gaze up at the moon hovering outside of the window.

_What are you planning?_

* * *

Pale rays of sunlight woke the group up, burning through their eyelids and arousing them from slumber. Mekial turned over reluctantly while Link, Brent and Morbex got up and began to repack their belongings. In the neighboring cavern, Renée, Katrina and Dijonay were also rising, rolling up their portable beds and groggily shifting from sleep into consciousness.

As Ralis had promised breakfast was prepared for them and was even delivered to their rooms. But what the meal actually was proved to be an entire challenge in itself: there was no meat or – obviously – any fish, but starches were not present either. Instead they were offered a plate of oddly shaped vegetables that, judging by their characteristics, did not grow on land.

Katrina tried the food first and quickly gagged it back up, destroying both Dijonay's and Renée's appetite; in the next-door room all four of the males ate some of the Zora dish, only to have their stomachs twist into knots a few minutes later.

It took a while for them to recover.

By late morning the group was ready to leave, arming themselves with their new winter clothing and journeying to the throne room to announce their departure. Ralis wished them a safe travel and Link added in his request to leave Epona in the Domain until they returned, which the ruler kindly acquiesced to.

Bidding farewell, the party marched down the steep staircase outside of the throne room and descended a series of small hills until they arrived at the tunnel that wound into Snowpeak. With Link at the front they strode inside, tightening the buttons on their thick coats as the temperature rapidly dropped and freezing chills crashing into their faces. Icicles came into being as they went further, their conical bodies glimmering in the sunlight behind them and lengthening the deeper they traveled.

Then finally the passage opened up, revealing an icy walkway that led out onto a snow-blanketed ledge. Strong winds howled across the valley beyond this small bit of land, pitching masses of white fluff into the air and obscuring any and all geographical sights that lay behind them. Journeying further the group discovered a frozen lake below, littered with large slabs of ice as it reached into the deepest parts of the terrible whiteout.

Renée skidded when she tried to stop walking and flapped her arms like a flightless bird, hurriedly regaining her balance. Once sure that she would not fall she straightened her posture and squinted through the heavy veils of windswept snow.

"So we're finally here," she said, breathing out a cloud of white air. "Just one more to go."

The words had barely left her when a startling and throaty roar suddenly thundered out of the snowy mountains, bouncing with so much reverb that it was difficult to tell where the fierce snarl had precisely come from.

As the noise faded the blizzard howled its response, swallowing the last of the call and once again dominating the stormy air with its bone-chilling moans.

Morbex's red eyes gazed out from beneath the dark shadow of his oversized cloak. There was something oddly familiar about that cry.

"That definitely didn't sound like the wind," Brent said, adjusting his hood. "Whatever it is, let's hope we don't bump into it on our way up – fighting in this kind of weather would be insane."

"We can only hope," Renée muttered, worriedly creasing her eyebrows as she stared out into the snowstorm.

Link dropped his eyes to the bulge of land beneath him and tested its edge to ensure that it would not break if he were to step on it. Assured that it would not, he walked across it and hopped into a mound of snow below.

"This way," he called and the others obliged, sliding or jumping off of the ledge and climbing down into the merciless storms of Snowpeak.


	72. Chapter 71

**Chapter Seventy-One**

Wind tore at them from every angle, knocking into their coats and storming their eyes with raging, icy water. Heads bowed and shoulders hunched the group trooped through the flowing mountains of snow, pushing against nature's attacks and bearing in the straightest line they could manage.

More than once Morbex stumbled and tripped into the white hills with little more than a muffled grunt. By his third fall a hand fell across his back to help him up and peering through windswept bangs, he deciphered his helper as Dijonay.

She gave him a bracing smile and remained at his side, aiding him through the steadily rising mounds of snow.

Shielding his face with an arm Link marched at the front, baring his teeth against the air's bone-chilling bite and climbing in the direction he hoped was right.

But the deeper he went into the fierceness of Snowpeak the bleaker everything became: the dismal abyss of white stayed around him and the hilly landscape shifted so much that he could barely tell if he was still walking straight.

But even so, he had to keep going. They had to wind up somewhere eventually, didn't they?

Link wondered if the others were thinking the same or if they were instead losing hope – they had not said a word since their trek had begun.

He let his eyes wander to the side, granting him a slight view of Katrina's hunching figure. Shuddering beneath her enormous overcoat the girl looked even smaller; her pale nose was bright red from frost and her eyes had shriveled into slits, struggling to peer through the endless sheets of frozen rain.

The Hyrulean's eyes shifted forward and he sent up a silent prayer. All they needed was to come up on some sort of cave for shelter, and then they could plan their next steps.

If planning a journey through these snowy crests was even possible.

The last time Link had made it through these snow-crusted peaks he had been following the trail of a heavily scented reekfish. After that it was only a matter of memorizing the scent's path.

But it had been a year since that had happened, and he could barely remember that trail now. Everything looked the same to him, from the waving white hills to the slippery slopes that his feet discovered before his eyes.

He bit back a sneeze. There had to be some way for them to make it through this, some way for them to come upon a hint or clue that could guide them to the next shard…

A gale rushed into him then, scattering his thoughts and forcing him to crouch until it lost interest in bowling him over. As it raged around him, spitefully willing to send him toppling back to where he came, a monstrous roar sounded from within its depths, warring its way through the howling blizzard until it coiled into the white sky and vanished along another current of air.

When the yell died away Link lifted his head, his eyes narrowed as he glared through the snowy onslaught in front of him.

Morbex looked around the pit of white enclosing him and the others, almost as if he was waiting for the owner of the terrible bellow to break out in front of them. "That cry…"

"Did you say something?" Dijonay looked down at him.

"N-no…" Morbex adjusted his hood with a single hand and together they proceeded up a steep incline after everyone else.

"Hey." Link looked over at Renée when she spoke. "What's that?"

Link followed her eyes up the hill and stopped. Standing just over the rise of the slope was a large, dark silhouette, perfectly still but for the clouds of white that exited its mouth with every exhale of breath. It was not long before the others spotted the peculiar being and they, too, halted, anxiously attempting to identify what it was.

Before they could truly get a good look at the figure it released a thunderous shout and threw its thick arms into the air. Renée's hand flew to her sword hilt, as did Link's, and Katrina's arms flexed, forcing the knives out of her sleeves. Brent readied his staff and Mekial widened his stance; Dijonay took a protective stance in front of Morbex.

And with a ferocious growl the creature charged down the hill, arms still raised and its feet shaking the ground with every step it took. Halfway down the slope it broke through the fog, revealing its rather hairy face and perfectly circular eyes that bugged with excitement.

Donning a horse's saddle on its head like a hat and bearing a body the size of a small house, Link's memory familiarized itself with the creature, as well as the large, red fish that it was carrying. His own eyes widened and his hand dropped just as Yeto seized him in a firm embrace.

"YOU CAME BACK, UH!" the beast cried, squeezing Link and swinging him from side to side like a teddy bear. "YETA AND I MISS YOU MUCH!"

"It's – g-good to s-s-ee…" Link choked on his last few words and Yeto released him. But just as Link made to take in a gulp of air the great yeti shoved him into the snow.

"WHY YOU NO COME VISIT, UH?" the beast demanded as Renée rushed to help the Hylian up. "HAVE NOT SEEN YOU IN FULL YEAR!"

"S-sorry, Yeto," Link grunted once he was on his feet again.

"_That's_ the yeti you were talking about?" Mekial burst, jogging forward to get a better look. He tilted his head back, letting his eyes grow to the size of saucers. "He's _huge_!"

"UH! MORE HUMANS!" Yeto's round eyes fell to the child and then turned to the rest of the small party. "HAVE BARELY SEEN ONE HUMAN IN YEAR, UH! NOW I SEE SEVEN IN ONE DAY! WHAT BRINGS SO MANY HUMANS TO SNOWS?"

"We're looking for something," Link replied, regaining the yeti's attention. "We were told that we can find it in Snowpeak." He paused, conjuring up a decent description of the object they were searching for. "It's a shard," he explained, "and it glows really brightly."

"UH!" Yeto patted his great belly. "YOU LOOK FOR GOLDEN LIGHT, UH!"

Link blinked. "You've seen it?"

"UHH!" Yeto nodded his enormous head. "GOLDEN LIGHT WANDER INTO MANSION. WE USE FOR DECORATION."

"Th-that's great!" Link exclaimed, hope lighting up his face. "Can you take us to it?"

"LOVE TO, UH," Yeto began, "BUT GOLDEN LIGHT NOT THERE ANYMORE. IT TAKEN."

"Taken?" Link felt his heart drop. "Do you know who took it?"

"YETA SAY IT WAS BIG BEAST, UH." The yeti scratched the back of his head. "SAY IT GO DEEPER INTO SNOWS."

"Can you show us the way?" was Link's next request.

"I TAKE YOU, UH!" the yeti agreed, then pointed up the hill. "THIS WAY, UH!" And with that he walked away, working as a guide for their travel through the frozen wasteland.

The pale color of Snowpeak brightened in Dijonay's view as she followed, making her sway with a sudden attack of dizziness. She blinked – hard – in the hopes that she could clear her eyesight but the pale snows only grew whiter until they seemed to swirl together with the sudden decent of fog.

Recognizing this feeling Dijonay forced her body to relax and she exhaled slowly, slipping out of reality and into the grim hold of her psychic ability. Her limbs went numb and she stiffened, forced to do nothing but stand and watch as her Vision prepared to barrage her mind with cryptic images.

The whirling mists hovered about a moment longer, smearing the sight of her allies and the yeti into blurry outlines. Then it completely consumed them, and darkened to form the silhouette of a being lying on the ground with mats of hair shrouding his face.

_L-Link…_

Her thoughts formed his name when her lips couldn't, and with her heart plunging she realized how blanch his face was.

It didn't even look like he was breathing.

Dijonay's breath caught in her throat, preventing her from calling out his name, from drawing his consciousness back to the surface. Vainly she battled against the hold of her Foresight, willing to be near him but its grip was too great, easily resisting her efforts no matter how hard she tried.

Even as she gave in to its hold the view she had of Link panned right, revealing a young woman curled up across from him. With her dark hair splayed across her back and covering her visage, she looked just as hopeless as Link did.

Dijonay did not recognize her at all and yet, in the depths of her spirit, there was a sense of alliance with the woman, as though they had worked together in a project that Dijonay's memory could not connect her to. All that she could learn about her was that she was of noble birth, which was depicted by her violet gown and a golden headdress that was halfway off her head.

The view she had of the pair crumbled from her eyes before she could analyze it any further, permitting a different countenance to take its place: with his red eyes glowing maliciously and his lips pulled into a tight smirk Malbex extended an arm to the side, leering at her with a bloodcurdling malevolence.

Dijonay's eyes broadened and her heartbeat quickened, pounding so forcefully that she could feel it send torrents of blood rushing through her ears. Petrified by the unyielding grasp of her Foresight she could only stand and watch, terrified beyond words, as Malbex aimed his hand at her forehead.

If her eyes could grow any larger they did as sparks of light danced around the prince's fingertips, crackling and zapping as they gathered energy from the core of his being.

Behind the flashing lights she could see his lips moving, forming the words of a sentence that she could not decipher. When he finished speaking her eyes fixed back on his hand, which was now glowing so brightly that she could barely see anything else.

Then a shaky image appeared in front of his ignited extremities, transparent enough for his hand to still be seen but solid enough for her to see what it was.

It was a young man's face, pale-skinned with silky, silver hair and bright, cherry eyes. He bore resemblance to Malbex but, at the same time, he looked completely different: younger, kinder, gentler even.

If only briefly this man met her frightened gaze, viewing her with a concern that nearly crossed into remorse.

Then Malbex fired the spell, shattering the young man's sorrowful look and sending fiery sparks shooting through Dijonay's skull.

"Miss Dijonay!" Morbex's knees buckled as Dijonay's body slackened against him. Her head lolled forward and he fell into the snow, grabbing her with both arms to keep her from completely toppling over. "Are you all right?"

"…Nn…" The girl raised her chin and parted her eyelids, staring blearily at the icy snow in front of her. Eyebrows crinkling she sat up and held her throbbing head. "I…"

"Dijonay!" Mekial was at her other side in an instant. "Dijonay, are you okay? You suddenly fainted!"

"I…I am…" The sights her Foresight had granted her flashed in her mind, chilling her even more than the frost of the mountains. "I…I will be fine…"

With both Mekial and Morbex's help she got up, shaking her head a little to stable her balance. When her senses had cleared, she noticed that the others were not far ahead of them, nor had they seen her collapse.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Morbex asked again, his small eyebrows furrowing over concerned eyes. Dijonay looked down at him and nodded somewhat tiredly, and then she frowned as the face of the young man from her vision suddenly appeared in her thoughts. "Miss Dijonay…?"

Dijonay looked all but present as she stared at the imp. "Your eyes…"

"Hey, you guys!" Renée turned to call to them, cupping a hand to her mouth so that they could better hear. "C'mon! I think we're almost there!"

"C'mon, Dijonay," Mekial held the girl's arm. "We'll rest soon."

"Yes…" Dijonay let the mage guide her along and Morbex took her other arm just to be safe.

It was not long before they reached the crown of the hill and it was here that the group found they could look out and see most of what lay ahead of them. Unlike before the mountains and hills here were completely visible and at the very tip of the hill there was a leafless tree, blue with cold and carrying large circular ice-discs in its branches.

"I GO TO MY HOUSE, UH. DOWNHILL," Yeto told them, pointing down the other side of the alp. Katrina looked first and her stomach sank to her ankles: there was a gap between the hill they were on and the next one, though it was not too wide to be impassible, and the slope on its opposing end was incredibly steep. "YOU ALL GO THIS WAY, INTO DEEPER SNOWS, UH." The yeti directed his forefinger to the right, towards a slightly less noticeable part of the slope that dipped down the mountainside. "BEST WAY TO GET WHERE YETA SAY MONSTER GO, UH. YOU SLIDE THERE."

"Slide?" Katrina echoed then quickly scampered out of the way when the yeti pushed by her, walking towards the frozen tree.

Once beside it he bashed his shoulder against it a couple of times, releasing a rain of snow and a satisfying number of the discs of ice. The beast approached one and hopped onto it with one foot, and held his arms out for balance.

"USE DISC LIKE SLED, UH!" the yeti explained to her, swaying with the effort to keep steady. "LINK SHOW YOU – I GO NOW." He raised the large, red fish that he was carrying as an implication. "HAVE TO MAKE SOUP FOR WIFE, UH."

"Say hi to her for me," Link called up as the creature began to turn to face the hill.

Yeto nodded. "UHH! GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, LINK – AND GOOD LUCK!" Then he pivoted and skidded down the first hill he had pointed out to the party, leaped over the gap and out of sight.

"Just when I thought our modes of transportation couldn't get any worse," Katrina groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Hey, it can't be that bad." Brent approached one of the discs and tapped his boot against it, then stood on it. "It's just like a Hover Board." Katrina eyed him darkly. "…Oh, _right_. You have motion sickness…"

Renée let out something between a scoff and a laugh. "Way to forget, Brent." She claimed one of the sleds and bounced on it to see how well it would hold her. "Just ride with someone Katrina," she suggested, adjusting herself onto her board, "if you can't ride one yourself."

"Ooh," Brent pretended to wince. "She said _that_." He laughed lightly as Katrina's face turned pink. "It's really not that bad. You wanna come with me?" He held his hand out to her and, after giving the offering a short glower, Katrina took it and climbed onto his back.

"Dijonay, are you sure you'll be all right riding on your own?" Mekial asked the prime minister as he, too, walked onto one of the discs. "You still don't look too good…"

"Did something happen?" Brent asked, adjusting Katrina as she settled on his back.

"She almost fainted earlier," Morbex replied. "I don't think her body is doing too well in this place."

"I'm not surprised." Brent sniffed. "This place is _cold_." He suddenly sneezed and the sound echoed between the mountains. As the last of his shout faded around them, Renée eyed the viewable, snow-tipped peaks with dilated eyes, then looked back at the Hylian.

"…Bless you."

He sniffed again. "Thanks."

"I will be fine riding on my own," Dijonay assured the others, steadying herself on one of the discs. "But I appreciate your concern."

Mekial said nothing, though continued to regard the girl with an evident air of doubt.

"Then, we're all ready?" Link asked and, after receiving nods from everyone, drew some momentum and slid down the hill, making sure to take a soft turn into the slope that Yeto had claimed they should take. With a delighted whoop Brent followed his lead, then Mekial and Renée and, after them, Morbex and Dijonay.

With the path being so narrow the group took to sliding down single-file, fortunately riding at a pace where they could not soon crash into each other. It was not long before the ramp leveled out and opened up into a large snowfield. Here the wind patterns grew erratic, blowing snow and ice into their eyes one moment and softly tickling their faces the next, and the force of their descent began to weaken.

Brent kicked through the rising snow as his board slowed, granting he and Katrina just a bit more time to cruise along. When they could go no further he smoothly stepped off the disc and could not help but emit a sigh of disappointment; truthfully he missed the feel of a Hover Board, of the rush of the high winds as he zipped through the air.

But when he realized how tightly Katrina was clinging to him, he figured that he would simply have to accept their little snowboarding trip, no matter how short it had been.

Morbex shot into the snowfield faster than he wanted to, waving his arms in an attempt to keep steady on his board of ice. But every time he shifted to replace his balance he would tilt again, more than before, to the point where he nearly fell off.

But it could only be normal – books and teachers had been his only company for nearly his entire life. Journeying off the palace grounds without a formal purpose had been forbidden and because his schedule had always been suited for his education he had never gotten the chance to enjoy life's simple pleasures.

Like snowboarding.

As though it had a mind of its own Morbex's board suddenly began to dip, digging its front side into the snow until it had the leverage to catapult him into the air. Flailing, the prince yelled with surprise and crashed into Link, knocking him clean off his disc and sending them both tumbling into the field.

Once they finally come to a stop Morbex sat up and spat out a mouthful of snow. "S-sorry," he apologized and quickly detangled himself from the Hylian. "I… I lost control."

"'S all right," Link grunted, the world still spinning around him. He got up and brushed some loose snow off of his coat. "You all right?"

"Yes – I'm fine." Morbex replaced his hood on his head. "A little shaken, but fine."

"Ha, ha, ha!" Both Link and Morbex looked up at the sound of Renée's approaching laugh and watched as she slid to a stop in front of them, grinning from ear to ear. "Morbex, you looked like you got shot out of a cannon!" She laughed again. "And the way you hit Link – ha, ha! Oh, I wish I had a picture of that one!"

"All funny on your end, I bet," Link said flicking off one last bit of snow and Renée held her hands up as though in surrender.

"Hey, I've been in that situation, too. And it was just as funny." She stifled another laugh and looked behind her as Mekial slid into the field next. He was followed by Dijonay, who had taken to riding her disc like a toboggan. With her hair disheveled and eyes having doubled in size, she looked positively terrified.

"I…I hope…that we shall never have to do that again," she said in a shaky voice as she got to her feet. She brushed thick splotches of snow off of her coat.

"Does this mean we have to go the rest of the way on foot?" Mekial asked, yanking one of his legs out of the snow. He bent down to wrench his other one out. "I don't know how far I'd be able to make it – and working with frozen water isn't exactly one of my specialties."

"It would've helped if that yeti could've given us better directions," Katrina said, shivering with a soft sneeze. She took a moment to observe their surroundings, which consisted of endless mounds of white and thick sheets of descending snow. "Where are we supposed to go now?"

"Did you ever get lost when you were here, Link?" Dijonay asked, looking to the Hyrulean desperately, and then voiced her next words without thinking, "Please say you did!"

Brent gave her a look.

"That's an interesting thing to hope for," Renée pointed out.

"Um…I can't say," Link admitted, averting his eyes to the snowstorm. "I haven't been to this part of Snowpeak."

"So that's it then." Katrina folded her arms. "We're lost."

"Try _stranded_," Brent corrected. "This snow's covering our feet, fast. Getting out of this is gonna be a ha…a ha…a haa…!" He tilted his head back and scrunched his eyes shut.

Quickly reading the movement Renée launched forward, hand extended, and pinched the bridge of his nose. With his nasal passages alleviated, Brent sighed and nodded in thanks to his fellow Arkanian.

"No problem." Renée removed her hand, only to regret it a second later when the Hylian's head snapped back and fell with an explosive sneeze.

Booming all around them, the last of Brent's cry jumped between the mountains that hemmed in the wasteland, ringing in their ears and shaking the snowy heaps that huddled around their feet.

Katrina's narrowed eyes moved to the distant peaks and, spotting a kind of movement, she fixed them onto a particular mount at her rear: there, a small slab of ice had detached from the frozen crest to bounce down the mountainside. Closely she watched it, and when its tumbling ended on a rocky cliff she released her breath, having not even known that she was holding it in.

But then as if in reply to Brent's outburst, a gurgled, devilish roar rocketed into the sky. The earth quivered violently and the mountains shattered, releasing instant powder clouds of snow from their white heads.

Barely did the torrent make it halfway down the mount before the monstrous scream returned, louder this time and forcing another tidal wave of snow to depart the mountain peaks. Fiendishly they plunged down the hillside, adding to the already cascading wave and doubling its threatening size.

Katrina stabbed Brent with a severe glower and he flashed her a sheepish smile paired with a nervous chuckle.

Panic wafted off of his allies as the snowslide gained speed and, hurriedly, he threw his mind around their predicament and forced his thoughts to remain in order.

"Everyone, gather together!" he roared after a rushed moment of thought and, without objection, the party did so. He then squinted through the howling blizzard for the mage. "Mekial!" the Hylian hollered, gaining the child's wide-eyed attention. "When that snow gets close, try to make a close barrier around us!"

Mekial nodded and his eyebrows furrowed over his eyes with resolve. "Right!" He then turned his attention to the others. "Everybody, huddle close!" As his allies followed his orders, he marched towards the front of the group with difficulty, straining to lift his legs out of the snow with every step.

Once he had a secure position in front of everyone he bent his knees and pushed his hands out of his cloak. As the avalanche drew closer, tearing through the snowfield with the force of a typhoon, his body began to tremble and his thoughts spiraled; it was not much longer before he began to wonder if he would be able to defend the others, or if there was even a spell that would work against such a powerful force.

Regardless he widened his stance and pumped his arms into the air. Shortly the stone embedded into his forehead gave off a blinding glow, and then he dropped his hands so that they were extended before him. From his palms a cloud of smoke erupted, curling over and around the bodies of him and his accomplices.

As it expanded, thickening into a fog that seemed to blur the sight of their surroundings he shaped it, willed for its misty body to coil into a semi-sphere of protection. And all the while he kept his eyes on the rushing surge of snow, timing it, waiting for it…

_Just a bit closer…_

Though he dared not give into it, it frightened him how easily he could calculate the snow's distance: two hundred yards away…one hundred and fifty yards…one hundred…fifty…forty…now thirty –

Power surged through the boy's arms and he yelled, emitting an eruption of flashing lights from his hands. The explosion collided with the mist in a blaze of mystic glory and heavy gales rushed in every direction – then his fog solidified, hardening in time for the avalanche to make such explosive contact that snow and ice were blown skyward.

Baring his teeth the young mage pushed, forcing the shield to stay strong for as long as he could manage. But already he could feel it weakening, feel the avalanche pushing against it, warring for it to shatter so that it could break through and devour those on the other side. His knees buckled as he shoved out another emission of magic to strengthen the guard, and a brief glare of light ran along its surface.

Like a parted sea the snow split against the shield and tumbled around the group, continuing its descent down the hill. Brent watched it anxiously, crouched beneath the covering of Mekial's charm with one arm raised to the stray clumps of snow that managed to get him.

He directed his eyes to the sorcerer, whose small body was steadily digging into the snow with the effort of keeping his spell intact. Then he looked to the plummeting snows ahead, attempting to see how much longer their dire situation would last.

No sooner had his eyes moved did a long, black figure slither through the storm clouds overhead. His gaze moved to follow it and as it did his ears rang with the detonation of another vehement roar, one that sounded louder and closer than the ones he had heard earlier. It didn't take him long to realize that the enlarging silhouette was the wielder of the cry.

The shout rolled around the group, quaking their bodies and overpowering their ears until it even stole away the howl of the blizzard. Then the black figure broke through the clouds, revealing its dynamic proportions and completely shattering Mekial's focus.

He looked up and his eyes widened; his hands fell and the shield disintegrated, permitting the dry snow to continue its attack.

And overhead the enormous black dragon screamed venomously and dipped into a dive.


	73. Chapter 72

**Chapter Seventy-Two**

Before the snow could even pelt the group the dragon landed in front of them, shaking the already unstable ground with its massive weight and sending a powerful wave rippling through the snow. It hit the party before the avalanche could and they were instantly fired into the air, screaming and flailing as gravity lost its grip on them.

With another skull-rattling shriek the dragon was whisked downhill with the continuing snowslip, swinging its long neck in rebellion and clawing at the white dust around it. Then with a fierce growl it tore out of the powder clouds, spread its dark wings and clumsily flapped into the sky.

Merely feet over its horned head Mekial and the others flew, suspended until the Earth saw fit to pull them back down. Screaming, they soared over a gorge that was hidden behind the fields they had just been on and landed in the puffy hills of another.

Morbex plunged into the soft mounds and slid back, creating a slanted hole in the small hillside. Panting, cold and sore all over he crawled out of the fissure, shaking snow out of his hair and coughing out the bit that had gotten into his mouth.

Once cleansed, he looked at his new surroundings and found that he had landed in what looked like the snow-covered remains of an old castle. Tilted spires and weathered stone towers stood scattered throughout the white field and heaps of stones and other rubble lay in scrambled heaps. In some places parts of old corridors were seeable and atop a crumbling platform somewhere far off a cannon had been placed. Though, judging by the piles of snow that nearly obscured its barrel, it had been there for a long while.

An inhuman bellow issued from the gray sky and Morbex lifted his chin, watching as the dragon flew down to a snow-tipped cliff and perched atop it.

Now having a better view of the great creature, the prince released a soft gasp. "It…can't be…"

Flicking its reptilian tongue, the enormous lizard sat on its haunches and dangled its spiked tail over the edge of the precipice. Steam puffed from its flared nostrils and it opened its mouth with a poisonous hiss, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

Slowly, cautiously, Morbex pulled out of his hole, all the while keeping his red eyes fixed on the yellow gaze of the familiar beast above him.

When a faint grunt came from his rear he turned to find its source and discovered Link to be climbing out of a hole of his own.

There was another shuffle of movement and Morbex's eyes turned to a spot in front of him, where Mekial, too, was crawling out into the open.

After shaking the cold, white dust out of his face and rising to his full height, the boy turned his gaze up to the scaly monstrosity. Instantly his eyes widened and his heartbeat quickened to the point where he could feel it pounding in his ears.

"W-what…" he took a shaky step back, "i-is…"

"An argorok," Morbex clarified, his eyes never leaving the creature's fiendish face. "But…" Mekial looked back at him, as did Link, and together they watched as a sense of dread overcame the young prince's features, "…they belong in Eldonis…"

The Hylian returned his eyes to the foul creature. He was sure he had seen a similarly named fiend during his previous quest but, if memory served, that one had been much smaller.

"If they belong in Eldonis, what's one doing all the way out here?" Mekial managed to ask.

"It's possible that something has made him want to leave…" Morbex theorized and trailed off worriedly, wondering if this assumption was indeed fact. If it was, what in Eldonis could have gone so wrong that a powerful male argorok would want to search for new grounds?

And why would it be alone?

"I don't like this," he thought aloud.

"I don't either," Mekial squeaked.

The argorok fanned out its wings and clawed at the ledge hungrily.

"Why isn't it attacking?" Renée whispered out of the corner of her mouth. She and Brent had landed close to each other, though not so far from the others that they could not see them: from their location they could spot Morbex, Mekial and Link on the opposite end of the ruins, and a few hills behind them Dijonay and Katrina.

"Maybe it can't see us?" Brent guessed, and he blinked when something glinted in the beast's side. He frowned and squinted up at the strange illumination for a moment, and his copper eyes widened only a second later.

"There's something in its side," Katrina noted, spying a glowing object in the monster's scales.

"What?" Dijonay tried to look for something peculiar, though could not see beyond the dragon's fanged face.

From his position Link, too, noticed the glimmering item and with a sudden start recognized it as the shard of Power.

Instantly his mind roared into overdrive, racing to create a plan that would peel the item out of the beast's body. But barely had he even conjured up an idea before the monster suddenly looked down to its right, towards the pair that was closest to it.

There, Brent was wiping his nose from a sudden but brief sneeze.

Letting another roar tear out of its throat the dragon scrambled down the ledge, skittering over unstable rocks that could not maintain its descending weight. Numbed with fear Renée watched the advancing creature, only to have feeling shoot back through her when Brent snatched her by the arm and urged her into a run.

With a heavy thud the argorok landed behind them, spraying snow and rubble into the air as it crumpled into an awkward position. Growling angrily it twisted onto its front side and hissed, marking its scampering prey with golden eyes before slithering forth in pursuit.

But when a small, wooden projectile crashed into the skin directly beneath its eye its concentration was broken, and its dilated pupils pinpointed Katrina with her bow raised on the other end of the field.

As Brent and Renée stumbled down the half-covered steps of an eroded walkway, the beast turned on the Corvenian – who swore quietly.

Dijonay released a pitiful squeak as the dragon spread its wings and half-flew half-ran towards them, pushing through the castle rubble as streams of smoke spewed through its clenched teeth. Katrina slung her bow over her shoulder and grabbed the prime minister, pulling her off to the side and leading her in a sprint of escape.

The argorok screamed behind them and a strange light fell across the land; Dijonay stole a peek over her shoulder and cried out at the sight of the nearing monster, whose mouth was agape to reveal orange flames that threatened to dance out of its throat.

But then the bestial fire died out, issuing from the dragon's mouth as a squirt of pitiful sparks. Furiously it twisted its neck back to see what had struck it and its beady yellow eyes fell upon Mekial, whose hand was still steaming from his fiery spell.

The dragon snarled and turned its head away, and for a moment Mekial thought that it had decided to ignore him. But when he noticed the creature's thorny tail rising into the air, that hopeful idea died.

Just when he expected the heavy tail to pierce his small body Morbex leaped in front of him, hands outstretched towards the incoming weapon.

No sooner did the imp's fingers extend did a pale, purple barrier materialize in front of them, strong enough to cause the beast's tail to bounce back on contact but sending Morbex flying into Mekial with the collision's force.

"Morbex!" The sorcerer caught the young prince and toppled to the ground with the power of the impact. When he gained the chance to look at him, he realized that the child's eyes looked like they were frozen shut. Instantly his heart thundered with the strength of a war drum and he shook the imp anxiously. "W-wake up! C'mon, don't die on me…!"

In a delayed response to the desperate plea the Fenri's eyes opened partway, staring dazedly at Mekial's blurry visage. He made a small noise in the back of his throat and his eyebrows puckered in slight confusion. "M…Mekial…?"

Before Mekial could respond a heavy wind stormed into him, forcing him to bow his head. When he looked up again, squinting through the snow that was being beat into the air, he saw that the argorok was flapping its wings in preparation of gaining altitude, as though it desired a better vantage point.

Boots crunched through the snow behind him and Mekial turned in time to see Link dash by, freeing a strange contraption from the enclosure of his heavy coat.

Plowing through the dragon-made snowstorm the Hylian raised his Clawshot. Right when the monster made to take off he pressed the button inside of the device's handle and the metal claw shot out, its chain clinking and clanking until the iron fingers rooted themselves between the beast's scales.

Link's feet left the ground a split second later, permitting his body to follow the course of the Clawshot's chain until he was able to cling to where the metal hand had attached itself.

As the dragon shot up into the stormy heavens with a vengeful cry, beating through the assault of hail and snow, he suddenly wondered:

_What now?_

"Mekial!" Spotting her bodyguard after the dragon had taken off Dijonay stumbled across the snowfield in his direction.

Katrina followed closely behind her and once they had reached the boy sorcerer she turned her attention to the turbulent skies. There the black argorok could be spotted, spiraling through the air as it hunted for a new landing spot.

"Mekial," Dijonay plopped into the snow beside the child and threw her arms around him. "Thank Nayru you are all right!" Her hands fell away from him and it was then she took notice of Morbex. Her throat clenched in instant assumption.

"He's okay…I think," Mekial said quickly, noticing the moistening of her eyes. She sighed with relief and Mekial looked back at the imp. "He protected me, even though his body's so frail…"

"We should get him out of the open so he can recover somewhat properly," Katrina decided, watching as the dragon took to gliding towards a far-off ledge. "And we still need to find Brent and Renée…" She frowned. "And where's Link?"

"I think he jumped onto the dragon's back," Mekial said plainly.

Katrina rubbed her forehead with a bothered sigh, then turned and knelt down to pull Morbex into her arms. She halted when the boy touched her wrist.

"I…I'm okay," he said faintly and, as though rising through molasses, he sat up. "I…I'll…walk…too…"

"You don't look okay," Katrina told him frankly as he paused to take a breather.

"No…I…" Panting, the imp got to his feet then swayed dangerously. Instantly Dijonay leaped up and caught him before he could tumble back to the ground.

"Please, do not push yourself." She straightened up to better allow him to lean on her for support. "You are already weakened as it is."

"I…" Again the prince stopped to take a breath, and he clutched his chest. "I know…but…"

"That looks like Brent and Renée over there," Katrina pointed over at two people marching through the middle of the ruins, and then she looked towards a partly collapsed passage close by. "Take the prince to that place right there," she instructed. "I'll go get those two."

Dijonay nodded. "Right."

As she and her guard escorted Morbex towards Katrina's suggested location, the Corvenian herself jogged over to her remaining accomplices. Upon seeing her approach, relief lit their faces.

"Where's everyone else?" Renée inquired hurriedly, taking a couple of steps forward, and Katrina briefly explained the state of affairs with the rest of their party. When she had finished, Brent looked up at the sky in time to see the argorok making a steep dive towards one of the encircling cliffs.

His gaze then fell to the middle of the ruins where the snow-encrusted cannon was positioned.

* * *

Grunting, Link steadily climbed across the dragon's ridged back, digging his fingers in between its scales in an effort to not go flying off. Upon reaching the base of the creature's vast neck he stopped and peered over his flapping collar in order to see its side.

There he could spot the rays of light that emanated from the shard lodged into its skin, and he quickly realized that if he wanted to get to it, he would have to slide down to just a bit above the beast's right shoulder.

As the Hylian made to inch down the dragon's side its head turned back, perceiving the human in its corner vision. It let out a fierce, snappish growl and looked away, flapping its wings one last time before it swooped into a vertical dive.

With the ground growing larger Link held fast to the creature's back, squinting through watering eyes as cold wind cut at his exposed face. Frost numbed his cheeks and his lips curled back, showing his gritted teeth and his fingers began to slip back, sliding across the dragon's scales until he was nearly hovering over its descending form.

But then even in his blurry vision, he perceived a windswept tower not too far from where the dragon intended to land. Narrowing his eyes so as to gain a better view of it, he noticed a partly unwound metal grating running down its side.

Link's hand flew into his belt pouch, knocking the different items around in an effort to reach the one he needed. With every second he took for this search the ground continued to enlarge until he feared that the dragon desired to make a suicidal crash; but then his fingers closed around a familiar handle and he tore the Clawshot out of his satchel. With it in hand he aimed it at the metal grille and fired.

The successful ring of metal against metal sang into his ears and in the next second he was in the air, pelting for the stone tower. With a heavy grunt he slammed into it, curling his fingers around the metal loops with his free hand and digging his toes into the stone crevices for support.

Behind him powerful gusts warred across the crown of the hill as the dragon leveled out and banked into a soft landing. Squinting through the raging blizzard Link peered back at the beast, watching as it slowly made its way towards the edge of the small mountain.

Seizing this chance, he released the grating and landed in a thick pile of snow with little more than a quiet _crunch_. Shortly he remained there, waiting to see if the creature would notice him and when it did not he climbed into the open.

By now the dragon had taken a place at the edge of the cliff, once again looking down into the stormy field. Stealthily Link inched towards it, figuring by now that it better spotted enemies with its ears. So, making as little sound as possible, he rounded to its right side, circling around its thick hind legs until he obtained a good view of the shard's location.

Glancing one last time at the dragon's head he made his way towards its right arm. Only when he was halfway towards it did the beast's head slowly turn, its nostrils flaring and shrinking as it made faint sniffing noises.

Link froze.

* * *

"I-I'm sorry…for this…" Morbex said breathlessly. He, Dijonay and Mekial had taken shelter in the weather-beaten passage that Katrina had pointed out to them. Presently he and Dijonay were sitting against the wall with him leaning against her, and Mekial was seated by the edge of the broken down tunnel, watching the dark skies in anticipation of the dragon's return.

"It is not your fault," Dijonay assured him. "In fact, I must thank you for saving Mekial. I am very grateful."

Morbex turned his tired eyes towards Mekial's hunched figure. Almost as soon as he did the boy started and jumped to his feet, and barely a second later a familiar face appeared at the passage's entrance.

"Here you are." Renée looked from Mekial to Dijonay, then lowered her gaze to Morbex. "Is he gonna be all right?"

"I'll…be fine," Morbex answered softly.

Renée nodded then looked down to her brother. "Brent needs you."

He frowned. "What for?"

"He's got an idea – he's over at a platform just behind this one. There's stairs that can take you up to him."

"Okay…" Though his words were that of consent, Mekial looked over at Dijonay concernedly.

"I'll stay here," Renée promised, putting a hand on her sibling's shoulder. "Go on. She'll be all right."

Mekial gave a reluctant nod then circled around the passage and out of sight. Swiftly he followed his sister's directions, marching towards the half-sunken stairs of the platform behind the passage and climbing to their top.

There, he found Katrina and Brent standing in front of what looked like a snow-covered cannon with a small pile of steel balls situated beside it.

"There he is, just the sorcerer I wanted to see!" Brent exclaimed as Mekial walked towards him.

"Ren said you needed me?"

"Yeah." Brent jabbed his thumb at the cannon. "This thing's ancient, but somehow the frost's kept it from rusting. Think you can blow the snow off of it and warm it up for me?"

Almost disappointed by the simplicity of the request, Mekial freed his arms from his heavy coat and, with a brief chant, waved his right arm out, creating a heavy gust that immediately cleared the artillery of its snowy blanket.

As the last of the ice fell off of its frozen surface the mage approached it with a small fire igniting in his left palm. Once it had strengthened into a blaze that covered him up to his forearm he held it in front of the cannon barrel, instantly melting the frost that was there.

Brent watched in satisfaction as Mekial rounded the old weapon, reducing its frozen shield into a watery puddle. When the boy had completed his task he stepped towards it and examined its exact proportions, then looked up at the mountains, which looked like nothing more than black silhouettes due to the worsening storm.

"Katrina." The girl looked at Brent when he addressed her. "Can you see through this?"

"Somewhat."

"Then can you spot that dragon?"

Wordlessly the Corvenian narrowed her eyes, peering through the thickening snow that forever hailed from the gray abyss above. Finally, she identified a shadowy form on a peak to the northwest. She pointed. "There."

"Okay." Brent grabbed hold of one of the cannon's handles and pushed against it, forcing the weapon to wheel around until it was facing Katrina's indicated location. He then took one of the steel balls and dropped it into the opening near the cannon's back end, then frowned up at the figure Katrina had spotted. "…We're going to have to draw it to us."

"Do you plan to injure it?" Katrina looked at him through her side vision.

"No." Brent looked at her. "You saw what was in its side, right?" The girl nodded and Mekial looked between them confusedly.

"There was something in its side?"

"I'm going to try to dislodge it with this." Brent patted the cannon proudly. "And, if that doesn't work then, yes, I will injure it."

"What was in its side?" Mekial pressed, angry that they weren't paying attention to him.

"And if you do that?" Katrina went on, ignoring the child.

"Then at least when it's grounded we'll have a better chance of fighting it," Brent reasoned. "Seeing as none of us can fly."

"Except Link."

"What? Oh, right." Brent paused upon remembering the whereabouts of their Hyrulean comrade. "Wonder how he plans on getting to the shard."

"If he planned anything at all," Katrina scoffed.

Mekial's eyes grew large. "The _shard_ is in the dragon's _side_?!"

"Yes and Link's there with it," Brent finally answered then he closed his eyes, frowning as an array of ideas ran through his mind. "If he's still on the dragon's back when we get its attention, we'll have to make the cannon work to his advantage. If that guy's as reckless as I think he is, he'll probably try to get to the shard his own way. Even still, we should at least be able to loosen it up enough for him to pull it out easy."

Katrina raised an eyebrow. "You really think it'll be that easy?"

"It's obviously easier said than done but judging by the size of these cannonballs, loosening the shard or bruising the dragon is all they'll be capable of." His eyes moved back to the creature's blurry outline.

"Or busting Link's head open if he gets in the way."

"Let's not think about that."

"How do you plan on getting the dragon's attention, anyway?" Mekial asked as the Hylian moved to alter the cannon so that it was aimed higher. But upon hearing the boy's inquiry, the blue-haired Arkanian stopped to look at him.

"I was gonna leave that up to you." He looked back at the large gun to continue adjustments and sniffed. "It seems like it's really sensitive to sound."

Mekial stared at him for a moment, blinking before he turned to face the dark figure of their adversary. Shortly he wondered what would garner its attention, and then he peeked over at Brent with a mischievous grin.

Katrina raised an eyebrow.

* * *

Growling in the back of its throat the argorok twisted its neck back further, hunting for the source of the scent that floated on the wind. As its neck lowered, bringing its fanged face closer to the ground Link inched back, only to bite his tongue when his foot made an unwanted but unavoidable _crunch_ in the snow.

As if he had suddenly become clear in its vision the dragon let loose a skull-rattling scream, making Link's ears ring and charging his face with hot breath.

But then the lizard's fearsome cry ended just as abruptly as it had started and it closed its jaw, flicking its forked tongue as it turned to reface the snowfield. It was only then that Link heard it: the echo of a familiar, thunderous sneeze.

* * *

Renée flinched and looked outside.

Morbex, too, looked out of the passage. "What was that?"

"Brent?" Dijonay guessed and in reply Renée sighed, emitting her breath in a puff of white smoke.

Dijonay smiled weakly, only to look down when Morbex shifted against her and forced himself to his feet. She watched him worriedly.

"We should…probably see what's going on." Using the wall for support, he walked towards the exit of their shelter.

"Prince Morbex, are you sure you're okay enough to walk?" Renée asked concernedly, quickly rising when she noticed the boy bring a hand to his temple.

"It's all right. I'll be fine." He took another couple of steps towards the edge of the weathered stone tunnel but then stopped. "And Miss Renée…" He viewed her over his shoulder. "Just Morbex is fine. Both you and Mekial called me that earlier." And though she looked blatantly confused, he passed her a small smile and then walked out.

* * *

Hissing viciously the dragon spread its wings, temporarily shielding Link from the heavy downpour of snow. When the great beast beat its wings once however, Link's body unfroze and he hurriedly threw himself onto the argorok's right arm. No sooner had he begun to climb it did the beast flap its wings again, launching itself off of the cliff and swooping towards the field with a snarl.

Eyes wide Mekial stopped wagging his finger, which he had used to create a small wind that had blown around Brent's face and caused him to emit a mountain-rocking sneeze.

Behind him, Brent swiped his arm beneath his nose with a quiet sniff and followed the boy's eyes towards the mountains: there, the dark shadow of the dragon was growing in size, its body weaving through the air currents as it sped towards them. With its pupils dilated and sparks leaping through its bared teeth, it barely even noticed the small human struggling to climb its right limb.

"Katrina, can you see where the shard is?" Brent stepped towards the cannon, prepared to adjust it if he had to.

In response the Corvenian narrowed her eyes against the storm, scouring the scaly black monster for any sign of a peculiar glow. It was not until the creature had rocketed through the fog, granting more detail to its dark features, was she able to spot it.

"Right side," she called out. "Just above the shoulder."

"Got it!" Brent pushed the cannon a bit towards the right, and then called Mekial out of his trance. "Send it off!"

"O-okay!" The boy whipped around, scrambled to the backside of the cannon and crossed his hands over the opening at its back end. As a fiery orange light grew to consume his hands Katrina watched him mutely, then let her eyes follow the cannon's barrel and up to the part of the dragon it was aimed at.

Her eyes widened.

"Wait –!" The word barely left her mouth before an explosion emitted from Mekial's palms, giving the cannon the power to fire the steel ball at its target with a deafening roar.

Covering her ears and ducking away from the powerful detonation, Katrina coughed in the massive cloud of smoke that the artillery had created. When she gained the ability to look up again she turned her eyes to the dragon in time to see the cannonball slam into its left shoulder, making the entire creature bob in midair.

Regaining balance it shrieked murderously and picked up speed, nailing the small group with livid eyes.

Frustrated, Katrina rounded on Brent. "I said _right_ side!"

"I didn't know you meant the _dragon's_ right!" Brent countered, returning her glower.

Link clung to the dragon's arm with all of his might as the creature wobbled and he dared not look down, instead raising his chin when the beast balanced out in order to relocate the shard. Once he had found it he resumed his climbing, only to stop again when another violent blast sounded from below.

This time he chanced to look and with his stomach plunging saw smoke issuing from what looked like a cannon. Though he could not clearly see who, he could spot some people around the heavy weapon; but when his mind tried to identify them a thick, circular object became apparent in his sight, jetting towards him at breakneck speed.

Recognizing it his jaw fell in horror and he ducked, tucking his body against the beast's arm and strengthening his grip when the cannonball crashed into its shoulder, rocking the entire limb. The dragon wailed and tottered, strangely dazed by the strike as it struggled to remain afloat.

"What's going on?" Renée climbed the stairs leading to the cannon with Dijonay and Morbex behind her. Briefly she looked at the steaming gun then towards the sky, where the dragon was teetering almost drunkenly. She squinted at a small green figure latched to its arm and her eyes grew large. "Tell me that's not –"

Link's muscles tightened and his fingers dug into the ridges formed by the beast's scales. With strained effort he raised his head enough to find the shard once more and, amidst the eddying motions of the flailing dragon and the hail and snow that poured from the sky, he managed to locate it; now it was partway out of the beast's skin, trembling with every beat of its webbed wings.

Before Link could even consider grabbing the artifact the dragon's left claw flew into his vision, swiping at the skin around the shard and nearly cutting him clean off of its body.

The Hylian held fast, shouting as the beast's injured arm swiped at its own shoulder. Keeping his eyes thinned against the dragon's strikes Link craned his neck, pinpointing the shard: thanks to the dragon's self-inflicting strikes it was practically out now, dangling in the wind with its head barely fitting between two scales.

Right when Link feared the relic would be knocked into the air the dragon let loose an aggravated roar and lowered its claws, seemingly unaware of the progress it had been making in dislodging the shard. Now having given up on this task, it turned to the party far below with a new fury welling in its demonic eyes.

As it tucked in its wings and fell into a straight dive Link looked back at the shard and ripped out his sword, holding it up against the winds that rushed the dragon's pelting figure. Quickly he switched his hold on the blade and, with a fierce cry, jammed it between the dragon's scales and the shard.

As if it had hit an invisible wall the dragon halted and released a pained scream, howling piteously as Link worked the sword into its flesh. After glancing over at his allies by the cannon he flicked the blade out, sending the shard soaring into the air.

As soon as the artifact had been freed the dragon's wings went still and its eyes slammed shut, leaving its immense body to plummet towards the ebbing snows below.

But Link held on to it, baring his teeth against the whip of the cold air. When the dragon's body began to tilt, however, unconsciously pivoting so that it would land on its side he released it, spreading his legs and arms wide as its form fell away from him.

It crashed into the hills with a sound of resounding thunder, breaking through a cluster of rubble and firing jets of snow and ice into the sky. Directing his descent Link plunged to the ground right after it, and hurtled into a hill of snow.

"Did he get it?" Renée took a step towards the edge of the platform as her comrades looked on at the fallen dragon, and stared up at a glittering, golden object that was flying in their direction.

Just as she identified it she felt Brent sweep past her, one arm outstretched; and before the storm could catch the shard he snatched it out of the air.

But when it made contact with his skin a wave of heat flared up his arm, forcing him to emit a pained cry.

Flashing images flooded his mind in the next instant, barraging his thoughts with the sight of Link's face: of him raising a brilliant white sword, of him leaping forth and sealing the blade into the chest of a heavily armored man, of the man releasing an agonizing scream…

The heat that had shot through Brent's arm moved to course through his body, imbuing him with such a fearsome rage that it was nearly tangible. Suddenly he hated everything: hated the earth, the sky, the gods –

"Brent –?" Dijonay stepped towards the trembling Hylian and touched his shoulder. Immediately he shoved her away with an angered shout, dropping the shard in the process.

"Hey!" Mekial caught the girl as she toppled over with a startled yelp. "What gives?!"

But Brent merely fell to one knee with a pained moan, cradling the hand that had once held the shining relic.

Renée dropped down beside him, placing a hand on his back and eyeing the shard with a look of curiosity mingled with suspicion.

As she glared at it Katrina knelt beside it, plucking it off the ground with her gloved hand and eyeing it distrustfully.

Morbex, too, examined the glowing object then redirected his attention to the unconscious dragon. Wordlessly he ran to it, leaving Brent in the care of the others.

Link hauled himself to the snow's surface, shaking his head and thus tossing clumps of the white powder out of his hair. He slid down the side of the hill he had sunk in and let his eyes fall to the black beast that was a few yards ahead of him. It was still breathing, though slowly, but otherwise lay perfectly still.

Boots trampled through the snow mounds behind him and he turned in time to spot Morbex marching in his direction. Upon spotting Link he paused with a relieved sigh.

"Good." He slid down the remainder of the hill. "You're all right."

"Did you guys get the shard?" Link asked and Morbex's face became troubled. Shortly, he informed the man of what had recently occurred and when he had finished Link, too, appeared rather worried. He could clearly remember when such a thing had happened to him, back when he had entered Talis with the prime minister and her bodyguard.

But then, the shard's mysterious emotions had been flushed out of him. Why had the same thing not happened to Brent?

The faint sound of more feet trooping through the snow drifted to Link's ears, drawing him from the pool of memory and his eyes towards the hill that Morbex had recently ascended. There, the rest of his allies could be seen.

"Is it dead?" Mekial asked as he slowed to a halt with his eyes fixed on the motionless dragon. Link shook his head.

Katrina came up beside him next and silently extended the shard of Power to him. Gratefully Link took it and proceeded to seal it into the velvet pouch, and made a mental note to ask Brent about his experience with it later.

"So now that we've got the shard, what now?" Mekial piped up, tugging his hood back over his head. "We're still stranded."

"And we still must find out where the princess is," Dijonay added, "so that we may return to the Deku Tree and receive the final shard."

"How're we even supposed to find out where she is?" Renée sighed, rubbing her forehead. "We don't even have any clues."

"Then we'll have to find some," Link decided, tucking the velvet bag into his belt pouch.

"From where?"

"…We'll go to Kakariko," the Hyrulean answered after pausing in consideration. "I know someone there who might be able to help."

"But how do we get there, O great Leader?" Katrina inquired scathingly, folding her arms as a bulky wind whistled into them. "Fly?"

Link blinked, for that question had yet to enter his mind. Averting his eyes from the Corvenian he looked about the severely cold wasteland, over to the gorge that separated them from the remainder of Snowpeak and then up to the surrounding mountains. Snow was still falling from the never-clearing sky, heavy one moment and light the next and the wind was fierce and ill-tempered; he could not picture them successfully finding a way out.

A heavy moan floated across the snowfield behind them and, hearing the sound, Morbex's eyes jumped to the dragon. Stiffening, he braced himself for another battle.

But the reptilian creature did not move.

Rather it sighed deeply, spraying soot from its nostrils and soiling the uneven white fluff it lay upon. Then it whined and turned its head to the side, forming a wide gutter in the snow.

Cautiously Morbex advanced towards the creature. Steadily he slid into the trench its heavy jaw had formed and then climbed out of it, putting all of his strength into this as the soft, tangible water was not easy to grip. Once he had scrambled out he continued his approach until he could see every detail on the dragon's black, scaly, face.

The great lizard moaned again and forced its eyes open, revealing a thin layer of skin over its eyeball. In a flash this, too, was blinked aside and the dragon's yellow orbs slumped to meet the cherry stare of the Eldonese prince.

"_Easy_," the boy whispered in his native tongue, a language that the fire-breathing monster perfectly understood.

Hesitantly, Morbex stretched out a hand, intending to touch the dragon's scale-covered cheek. With a light rumble in the rear of its throat, the beast closed its two-lidded eyes in submission.

Noting its passiveness Morbex brushed his fingertips against its cheek and when the argorok showed no sign of malice, he stroked the side of its face gently.

"_There_," he went on, keeping to the language of his homeland. "_You're not a bad boy, are you? No, you're not…"_

"Hey, Morbex!" Renée hollered and in response the boy's face turned to the side, letting him view her out of the corner of his vision. "What're you doing?"

At her outburst the others looked to the small imp, stunned that the once ferocious dragon had not even lifted a claw to him.

Turning to fully face them, the imp switched back to their language, "I think I found us a way out."


	74. Chapter 73

**Chapter Seventy-Three**

With a single beat of its wings the argorok rocketed into the sky, breaking through the storm clouds of Snowpeak at an angle that forced its passengers to lie parallel to its back. Scrunching their eyes they held fast to its spiked spine, hair and coats thrashing as the black fog parted around them.

The higher they climbed the thicker the frosty air became, slithering through their coats to claw at their skin and creep into their bones. Grimacing, they tucked their faces against the dragon's back until, with one final rush of cold air and a popping of their ears it swooped above the clouds with a flourish of its thorny tail.

Brent whooped as the creature straightened out, his copper eyes dancing with delight.

"This is amazing!" he cried, gazing at the dim sky before letting his eyes dive to the fluffy layer of clouds beneath them. "Man, have I missed flying!"

"I haven't," Katrina croaked, her arms and legs wrapped around one of the argorok's spikes. She hid her face against the protrusion of bone and groaned when the dragon's back arched in tune with its flapping wings.

"I think it'd be more fun if this thing were actually secure," Renée added worriedly, hugging a spike near the Corvenian. Situating herself the best that she could she looked over at Morbex, who was straddling the base of the creature's neck in front of her. "Morbex, how can you sit like that?"

"I've ridden an argorok back in Eldonis before," he replied evenly.

"Does that mean that riding dragons is common over there?" Renée blinked, rather stunned by the very idea.

"Yes. But we only ride the female argoroks," Morbex specified, his attention fixed on the sea of clouds. "They're tamed to use for the Air Guard, which protects Eldonis' borders and forbidden regions. The males aren't used often because they're harder to tame, and bigger; they've also got worse tempers."

"Let me guess." Renée pulled an unimpressed face. "This is a male."

"Yes."

"Well it seems pretty tame to me," Mekial observed from his seat a few spikes back.

"Yes…" Morbex said again, "but I wonder why…"

"Morbex, can you take us down a bit?" Link shouted from his location behind Renée, disrupting the boy's thoughts. "It's hard to tell where anything is from up here."

Nodding his consent Morbex kicked the sides of the dragon's neck and patted its back, relaying Link's request to it in the familiar tongue of his home. The creature's ears flicked back at his words and with a great sigh that hummed in the depths of its chest, it tipped its body and plunged through the clouds.

With the wind bellowing in their ears, the party watched through squinted eyes as the fogs separated for their descent, revealing the last of Hyrule's frozen, northernmost province. Struck by the amber glow of dusk that shone over the horizon, the snow-tipped crests appeared to shimmer as if they were on fire.

"Hey, Katrina, it's really pretty down there," Mekial called mockingly, peering down at the rocky landscape.

Katrina barely managed a groan in response.

Link peeked over the argorok's shoulder to view the ground below and immediately found that "pretty" was not a good enough word to describe it. A breath of awe escaped him in a transparent cloud of mist as he stared down at his homeland, watching as the last of the sun's rays glowed across the earth's bumpy surface. Even the grasslands seemed to be aflame, bending to the winds in a way that made the twilight look like a flickering bonfire.

His eyes roved across the majestic view, picking out the crowns of certain landmarks that, now, looked like they belonged in a toy set: right beneath them he could spot the caverns that enclosed Zora's Domain, and just over the hills was the stone bridge that connected Lanayru to Eldin.

His gaze moved away from the grand structure to follow the trail that wound back into Lanayru, marking the pass that they had taken with the merchant caravan in order to reach Snowpeak.

Just as he made to avert his attention to the brilliant horizon, a sudden eddying motion from the dragon's body distracted him, pulling him back to his present location.

Frowning, he stared at the argorok then shifted his gaze to the others: they did not appear to have noticed anything.

Shrugging the strange occurrence off he moved to return his attention to the surrounding view, but started when a ripple burst through the argorok's spine, leading its back to nearly cave in. Dijonay yelped, only to be cut off when the dragon righted itself, tossing its head and flapping its wings to steady its flight.

But it barely raised the webbed extensions twice before its strength suddenly waned, and all at once it dropped right out of the sky.

Yells of both surprise and fright exploded from the travelers' mouths, and as the argorok's descent gained speed their bodies rose until they were barely clinging to its back.

Brent reinforced his grip on the argorok's spiky mane and squinted through the haze of water building in his windswept eyes. "Morbex!" he roared over the terrified shouts of his allies. "What happened?!"

"The argorok!" Morbex stammered, wide-eyed as he struggled to keep from losing his grip. "His eyes are closed!"

"You mean it _died_ on us?!" Katrina shrieked, craning her neck back to find the blue-skinned member of the party. But when she saw how the world was spinning with the dragon's pivoting body, she hid her face away with a pitiful groan.

Wind tearing at his clothes and knocking his own hair into his face, Morbex extended his arm to the dragon's neck, yelling for it to awaken as he struggled to slap a hand to its scaly skin. But no matter how loudly he called the argorok's eyes did not even quiver, and its jaw remained slack as it spiraled closer to the jagged earth.

Still Morbex tried again, this time stretching until he finally managed to plant his palm against the creature's neck.

With new strength washing through his tone, he cried out to the beast in his home tongue once more, "_Wake – up!"_

Sparks of light erupted from his palm with the emission of his words, shooting up the argorok's neck and sending a powerful shock through its blackened mind. Its eyes flipped open and in the next instant it tugged balance back into its flight, then fanned out its wings to slow its fall.

But its recovery was too slow: seconds after its wings had spread it crashed and skidded across a flat-topped mountain, launching clouds of dirt into the air. Unable to slow itself, it toppled off of a cliff and with a pained roar crashed through a tall, planked sign before it slammed onto an open trail.

Soil and dry dirt exploded into the air around its grounded body, obscuring it from view. Coughing and choking, its cargo swatted at the dust around them until it began to settle, revealing the small canyon that they had fallen into.

Atop a hill farther away a tall sign stood – or rather, what was left of it – and just beyond it stood rows of closely set, wooden houses built parallel to each other in the canyon walls.

As the dirt thinned, Link quickly identified the small area as the Hidden Village and, dropping his eyes from the community, he spotted a small crowd of children just a few feet in front of its destroyed sign, each of them open-mouthed and wide-eyed.

Link glanced down at the fallen dragon he had managed to remain seated upon, then back at them.

Dumbfounded and speechless the boys stared up at him, until the smallest one relocated his voice.

"_Monster!" _he screamed, then turned tail and sprinted back into the village. Wailing and scrambling his friends followed suit, echoing his shout as they dashed into the safety of the township.

As they disappeared over the hill, Link climbed off of the argorok's back and slid to the ground. Katrina slumped off right after, plopping to the hard earth with such force that a tremor ran up her already wobbly legs. Shortly she tried to steady herself, only to clutch her stomach, keel over and vomit.

Even in its tired state the argorok's ears flipped back at the noise and with a puff of steam from its nostrils it released a soft groan, closing its yellow eyes in much desired rest.

"What the heck happened up there?" Renée skidded down the dragon's side and dusted herself off after she landed. "And why are we always_ falling_?!"

"He's probably very tired," Morbex guessed, descending to meet his companions on solid ground. "Who knows how long he was wandering around in those snowy mountains? And carrying this many people on his back probably wore him out even more."

"Launching a cannonball at it probably didn't help much either." From his position on the dragon's back, Brent's eyes fixed on the creature's sleeping face.

"Two cannonballs," Mekial reminded him, drawing the Hylian's attention as he held up two fingers. "Into both shoulders." He climbed off the argorok and with a piercing _slush_ that erupted from his wet boots, landed behind his sister.

"Where are we, anyway?" she asked as her sibling dropped to the soil. There, he yanked off one of his boots and spun it over, unleashing a downpour of cold, melted snow. "I can't see anything beyond these mountains."

"I'm just glad that it's warmer here." Mekial watched the liquid cascading from his shoe as he spoke. "I'm surprised I didn't catch pneumonia."

"With how that water's falling out of your boot, you were probably on your way to it," Brent figured, skidding off of the dragon's scales and buckling into a solid landing. "Anyway, Link, do you know where we are?"

"This is the Hidden Village," Link answered, offering a hand to Dijonay as she made her way down to them.

After setting her on the ground he returned his attention to the others, but was soon distracted by the sight of a crowd of men hustling downhill in their direction. Armed with lances, spears and pitchforks they surrounded the travelers within seconds, weapons bared and their scowls stern and defensive.

"And we just got ourselves into trouble," Renée sighed, raising her hands in surrender along with her accomplices. She took a retreating step as one of the pitchforks inched closer. "Figures."

* * *

Hands placed on the back of his head, Link dropped to his knees beside his similarly-positioned allies when one of the villagers shoved him to the floor.

After simply surrendering to the distraught townsmen so as to avoid any unnecessary skirmish, he and the others had been brought to their chief, who was presently located in a house at the furthest end of the community. And if Link recalled correctly, the home served as the abode of Impaz, the old woman that had helped Illia when she had lost her memory during an attack on Ordon the year before.

Though ridiculously short in stature, Impaz had a heart that greatly shadowed her physical size; she had even helped Link on his previous quest by granting him an ancient book that had, eventually, guided him to the mythical City in the Sky.

Her home was just as small as he remembered it, carrying only one room that served as the kitchen, foyer and bedroom. As his eyes roved across the basic set up of the area, from the tiny bed on the left to the cluttered kitchen sink on the right, he made note of the many cats that still called the place home.

Their tails waved from side to side as they watched the small crowd in their living room but they chose not to approach, instead muttering soft _meows_ to one another as if to share their ideas on what was occurring.

There was one more being that stood in the room's center, and as Link lifted his eyes to her face he felt a confused frown flash across his countenance. Rather than it being Impaz as he had originally expected, it was a completely different woman.

Tall and noticeably muscled she was much younger than Impaz, and with her dark eyebrows weaved into a brutal frown she looked rather displeased with the people that had been brought before her. Her black hair was tugged into a high ponytail that dangled just above her shoulders and her clothes were dirtied, worn, and faded by age and labor.

"These people are the reason for that big crash we heard, Chief," one of the three townsmen declared from behind the arrested party. "They rode in here on a black monster."

The woman dropped her slender eyes to the group, and it was at that moment Dijonay became aware of their piercing red color. Swallowing roughly, the girl lowered her face to the floorboards.

"What sort of black monster?" The chief's voice was smooth and powerful, and resonated throughout the small quarters with quiet strength. As she uttered the inquiry, she folded her toned arms across her chest.

"Well, it…it looks like a dragon, Chief."

It was only then that the chief made eye contact with the villager. "_'Looks' _like? You mean to tell me it's still here?"

"It's really not as bad as it sounds," Brent piped up, receiving a silent glare from the woman. "We were riding it over this place when it just kinda…fainted."

"A dragon _fainting_?" The chief dropped her arms and her entire body seemed to bristle with annoyance. "You mock me with that sort of story?"

"Well…" Brent cast his eyes aside. "Honestly, it sounded a bit more believable in my head."

"We don't mean any harm," Morbex added upon noticing how the woman seemed to be on the brink of an eruption. "It really is like he said. That dragon is completely harmless."

"Is that so?" The tension that had settled around the village leader did not relent, but rather increased until it had filled every corner of the little room. "And I suppose you expect me to believe that you yourselves are also harmless."

She stepped forward and fell to one knee so she was at eye level with Link. Grimly she scrutinized him and Link leaned back, granting himself just a bit more personal air.

"I've seen your face before," she growled menacingly and Link's face remained blank until it cracked with understanding. Anxiously he watched as she got to her feet, then grunted when she seized a good clump of his hair and forced his head back so that he had no choice but to look at her.

The hatred that boiled in her stare bore a striking resemblance to Katrina, and her strength stood on par with a well-built man's. "My brother was one of the soldiers you killed," she snarled lowly, her grip intensifying to the point where Link thought for sure she would rip his hair out. "I'll see to it that your death is one so painful that –"

"Wait!"

Aggravated, the villager looked over at the one who had interrupted her threat, as did Link. Briefly his eyes widened when he saw who had spoken up.

With one hand outstretched and the other still latched to the back of her head, Katrina looked from Link to the fiendish woman standing over him, temporarily dazed by her own outburst. She pumped her jaw soundlessly, then let her extended hand plop into her lap. "He's not…the one."

"…Excuse me?" The chief threw Link's head out of her grasp. "Does making up stories run in this little band of kids?" When Katrina made no gesture of responding, she looked at the men that had brought the group to her. "I'll interrogate the others later. In the meantime take this one" – she slammed her foot into Link's stomach and with a faint wheeze he doubled over – "and lock him up until we can take him to the capital."

"…Do not touch him," Dijonay demanded, rising to her feet just as the men moved to carry out the orders.

Surprisingly they stopped, looking from her to their chief with trepidation. There was something eerily formidable that boomed in the young girl's voice.

"I gave you your orders," their leader reminded them calmly, tilting her head to the door. "Take him out."

"I said _no!_" Dijonay thundered and again the townsmen froze.

The chief's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"This may come as a bit of a shock," Brent's voice drew the villagers' attention, "but our friend Link here hasn't got anything to do with your brother's death."

The chief's shoulders shook with a short and humorless laugh. "I guess storytelling really is your favorite pastime," she smiled wryly.

"We aren't lying," Renée said forcefully, her face darkening beneath a grim frown. "_Don't _touch him."

Smirking, the chief looked at her subordinates and waved her hand at the door. At the signal, two of them bent down to haul Link to his feet.

Right when their fingers brushed his wrists Brent and Renée sprang to their feet; Brent blocked the men with his Bo and Renée grabbed the hilt of her sword, which was belted to the back of her waist.

To their rear the village leader shifted stances and seized the dagger that hung from her belt. Mekial was standing before she could even withdraw it, coat and cloak pushed over his shoulders and hands out.

The chief almost laughed aloud at his position, only to have her face fall when she realized that the lances that once belonged to the townsmen were now hovering in midair, metal heads poised to strike her.

Anger fell across her face and reluctantly she released the dagger's handle. With her eyes fixed on Mekial's stern visage she straightened up and when a faint voice sounded from outside she looked to the door, which opened barely a moment later.

Link turned and felt his spirits lift at the familiar being standing over the threshold.

"Valterra," Impaz rasped, clutching her chest as her tiny body fought to regain its breath. "I came as quickly as I could…" Her eyes interrupted her own speech, looking from the floating lances to the battle-ready forms of the travelers and villagers. "Wh-what's going on…?"

Dijonay placed a hand on her guard's shoulder and with a steadfast scowl he dropped his arms, letting the lances clatter noisily to the floor.

"These people are the ones that flew a fire-breathing monster into our territory," the chief explained flatly, crossing her arms again. "And one of them is the ever-so-famous Link of Ordona Province. I was just about to have him locked up."

"Link…?!" Impaz's confused and wrinkled face brightened and it was then she took notice of the Hyrulean, who was still kneeling on the floor. Her dim red eyes searched his face for a moment, and then she reached out to him. "Link…you're here!"

"It's good to see you, Impaz," Link greeted kindly, though felt that words could not truly express his gladness for her arrival.

"And you, too, child!" Impaz cried tearfully, throwing her arms around him in an embrace. One of the villagers blinked, taken aback by the sudden display.

"Impaz…you know him?" he asked, accompanying the inquiry with an air of utter confusion.

"Yes, yes!" Impaz released the Hylian, her lined face glowing with a warm-hearted smile. "This is the young man that I told you all about, the one whose friend took refuge here last year. Oh, the poor girl had lost her memory and he did all he could to restore it… Bless your soul, Link! What brings you back here?"

Link cracked a half-smile. "Well –"

"His friend here says that they rode in on that dragon just outside the village," another of the villagers said, "and that it fainted, leaving them to crash-land here."

"Oh my…" Impaz's face fell worriedly and she looked from Link to his companions. "Are you all right?"

The chief bit back a hollow laugh. "Don't tell me you actually believe them."

"Well, why not?" Impaz circled Link to stand in front of the young woman. "The dragon _is _outside the village. And it _does_ appear to be unconscious – it hasn't even harmed anyone at all!"

"Even still," the leader spoke over her, the look in her eye suggesting she was losing her patience, "what do you make of that one, huh?" She nodded her head at Link. "That man was involved in the Soldier's Rebellion – in fact, he led it! And because of him, countless people died in a single night! Even…" She trailed off and ripped her eyes away.

"I don't care if those wanted posters of Link are all over," Impaz declared strongly, keeping her eyes fixed on the young woman's face even though she did not return her gaze. "Link is far too much of a dear to have been caught up in anything so terrible. There must have been a mistake."

The village leader grunted before looking at the stout woman in her side vision. "You give him too much credit, woman."

"Valterra, please…" Impaz smiled softly. "Is that any way to speak to your grandmother?"

Valterra simply huffed and broke eye contact.

Closer to the door, Renée's jaw flopped. "They're _related_?" she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. Brent shrugged.

"Guess so."

"But the old woman is so _nice_," Renée frowned, "and the village leader's so…_Katrina_." She flinched and looked at the aforementioned Corvenian to find that she was already looking at her, stone-faced. But then the girl averted her stare, her expression fading into one of thoughtful sadness.

"If this man isn't who the city guard says he is, then who is he?" Valterra insisted, granting her attention to the travelers once more.

"He is still Link," Dijonay vouched, her eyes narrowed with severity, "but he is not a senseless killer. There is even a captain that can testify to that."

"Oh? And what captain would that be?"

"Captain Regal Inkert."

Valterra paused, racking her mind for a reason on why that name sounded so familiar to her. It did not take long for her to remember that one of the villagers who had recently traveled to the capital had shared the news that a certain captain, Inkert, had been arrested for aiding in Link's escape of the city during his execution.

The news of Link's flight had sent indignation coursing through her, which even now she was still struggling to contain. The idea that Inkert had sided with him had done nothing to alleviate her anger.

"Captain Inkert's been imprisoned," she announced finally, her head rising just a bit. "How do you expect him to testify to anything?"

"The actions of Captain Inkert have spoken for him," Dijonay returned smoothly, no longer daunted by the woman's intense glower. "By order of your country's princess, he located us in Kakariko on the same night of the rebellion. Link was framed," she added darkly, "and should you deliver him to the capital you will be ensuring the safety of the man who is truly responsible.

"Please understand that we did not mean to crash into your village, nor do we mean any harm. And might I also suggest that you do not attempt to arrest Link again – please believe me when I say to you that you will regret it."

While Dijonay's party looked on at her, mildly startled by the return of her political authority, the chief released an uninterested scoff. "Is that a threat?" she challenged, fixing the young politician with a fierce glower. Dijonay simply mirrored the stare.

"I apologize on the behalf of my granddaughter," Impaz piped up, drawing all eyes down to her. "She has only recently taken my place as leader of our little community, and already has had to deal with numerous troubles. She is just trying to do what's right."

Valterra huffed.

"It is getting late now," Impaz went on, glancing at the woman worriedly before looking up at Dijonay. "And I take it that, for the time being, you are all stuck here. Please allow us to prepare a place for you all to rest. It is the least we can do."

Dijonay studied the others.

"Can't say I mind," Brent leaned his staff against his shoulder. "We can't really up and leave without the dragon, anyway."

"I'd take a warm bed after a trip through the mountains any day," Renée added, suddenly scratching one of her eyes. She sniffed and with a quick sweep of her gaze registered just how many cats were in the room.

"Same," Mekial agreed, which Morbex accompanied with a grateful tip of his chin. Katrina nodded silently, as did Link.

"Your hospitality is greatly appreciated," the prime minister said to the senior, her expression lifting.

Impaz smiled back. "And I suppose you need something for your dragon, too? If you rode it in here, I'm guessing that you've managed to tame it somehow."

Valterra started. "Grandma!"

"That would probably be best," Morbex spoke up, rising. "It may help him recover."

"Morbex…" Renée garnered the boy's attention and delivered a weak grin. "Do you know what dragons eat?"

"Fresh meat," the prince answered, completely missing the fact that the inquiry had been rhetorical.

Renée's eyebrow twitched, and her false smile remained. "Exactly. Fresh meat."

"…Oh!" Morbex redirected his eyes to the troubled villagers. "No, not _human _meat. The meat of large animals would be fine: lions, wild bears…"

"Morbex, I don't think they have those here," Brent pointed out.

"…Oh…"

"Don't worry about the dragon," Link said, mounting to his feet. "I can go and get something for it later."

"Well, in that case please, make yourselves at home," Impaz said, clasping her hands together. "In the meantime, Hoten, Eli and Remy here will prepare some rooms for you."

She looked at the three men that had escorted the travelers inside and after exchanging helpless looks with one another they left to carry out the underhanded orders.

"I'm leaving as well," Valterra declared, advancing towards the door as they departed. "I need to keep an eye on the kids to make sure they don't go wandering near that dragon." Her shoulder smashed into Link's, knocking him aside, and without even glancing in his direction she marched out.

"I'm sorry for her behavior," Impaz said again as the door slammed in the woman's wake. "Alford, her younger brother, was in the army, and he lost his life in the Rebellion not too soon after she was called here to take on the position of chief." The old woman's face saddened. "She blames herself for it, in a way. But anyway, Link…" She raised her eyes to his face. "What happened in the capital? Why would they say you did such a horrible, horrible thing?"

"We believe that he was framed," Morbex piped up, attracting her eyes. "We know who really took part in the act that night."

"You do?" Hope fell across the elder's face. "Oh, it is so good to hear that. I don't know what I would have done if it really had been Link this entire time. And I suppose that you all are on your way to find the real man responsible?"

"Believe me," Link began, his fists clenching, "we plan to."

"We were on our way to Kakariko Village first," Dijonay went on, "before we landed here."

"We'll try not to cause too much trouble," Renée added. "After all, your granddaughter doesn't seem to like us very much. But if all goes well, we should be able to leave sometime tomorrow, right?" She looked at Link, who gave a nod of confirmation.

"Oh, you don't have to be in such a rush," Impaz said, shaking her head. "You all can stay as long as you need to. The construction crew that Princess Zelda sent here last year has done a fine job of refurbishing many of the buildings, though there's still not much here yet. But please, enjoy everything that we do have to offer here. In fact…would you like it if I gave you all a tour?"

Link exchanged looks with his party, reading their shrugging gestures before returning his gaze to the short woman. "Sure."

Smiling genuinely, Impaz walked towards the door and opened it. "Then, follow me."

The Hidden Village was soon to be receiving a new name, Impaz started as she led the group down the dirt ramp to the side of her house and onto the dusty, main path that spanned the entire community. As they strode by the wooden apartment set-up that was built across from the town diner, she added that the village's present name didn't suit it anymore, seeing as the place was no longer "hidden".

The pattern of the community was easy to identify: on the right were the homes and apartments that villagers and construction workers alike lived in, and on the left were small marts, the inn – which was joined with the pub – and Valterra's office.

Even in the evening the place was lively, with children either running around or sitting in small groups as they chatted while their parents were nearby, and construction workers completing the final parts of certain tasks. As Link viewed the buildings they were working on he raised his eyebrows, impressed with the effort they had put into fixing them.

No longer were the flat-roofed houses rickety and shaky with broken-in windows and planked doorways. Some had been painted over to give them a newer appearance and every single windowpane had been replaced; some even had curtains drawn over them. The railings of the balconies had also been redone, firmer and more stable, and in front of the house on the furthest end of the village a fence had been built, which penned in a herd of swine.

"They really have stepped it up over here," Link said, putting a hand against one of the pillars that held up one of the houses' balconies. It wasn't splintered and hacked as it had been when the village had been in decline the year before.

"Yes, they have," Impaz agreed, smiling sweetly. "The princess is so good to us. I've sent her countless letters telling her how grateful I've been for her help. I just hope that one day, she will be able to see what she has done for so many of us here."

Even as she spoke one of the villagers jogged over to them, and after taking note of his rugged features he was recognized as Remy. "We've got your rooms ready," he said, slowing to a halt in front of them. "I've come to take you to them."

"Thank you so much, Remy." Impaz tilted her head back until she could see his towering, bearded face, and he nodded shortly.

"You guys go ahead," Link said as they made to follow the man the way that he had come. "I've got to go hunting."

"For the dragon?" Mekial guessed excitedly and behind him Remy shifted with discomfort. "Can I come?"

"Yeah, actually, I could probably use your help."

"I'll take your coats," Renée offered, extending her hand. "They might slow you down." Knowing she had a point, the two removed their winter gear and handed it to her. "Guess we'll just meet you guys at the inn later."

"I think I'll go with them." Brent took off his coat and held it in front of Renée. "Please?" She put her hand out to him and he happily placed the thick covering in her grasp. "Thanks, Mom!"

She laughed with a small shake of her head. "Just don't be too reckless," she called as the three began to march out of the village. "And keep an eye on my brother!"

"He's in safe hands," Brent assured her, giving the child a noogie.

Crying out in shock Mekial wrestled out of his hold, though Brent kept laughing. "Don't _do _that!"

Renée watched them until they sank beneath the hill the community was built on, then she turned to follow Remy as he led the rest of them towards the newly refurbished inn.


	75. Chapter 74

**Chapter Seventy-Four**

There should be a tunnel up ahead that leads out to the main road," Link informed Brent and Mekial as they walked through the remains of the town gate, which doubled as the sign they had destroyed upon their arrival. "We don't have any 'lions' and bears don't live up here, but we should be able to run into some of those boars that the bulbins ride around on."

"The same ones that attacked us on our way to the mountains, right?" Mekial inquired, recalling the horde of red-eyed beasts that had ambushed them and the merchant caravan.

"Yeah." Link stopped walking and turned his eyes towards the argorok, which was still laying the same way they had left it. With its eyes closed and wings awkwardly tucked against its sleeping body, it was almost strange to know that it had once been a hostile monster that had tried to devour them in Snowpeak. "Think one of those boars would be enough?"

Brent, too, turned his eyes towards the slumbering lizard. "We should go for two," he decided. "Wouldn't want it to go wandering around for dessert."

The argorok snorted suddenly, spraying cinders from its nostrils.

"Yeah, well," Mekial's face fell concernedly, "we should get going before it starts wandering around for an _appetizer_."

So they continued, circling the dragon's barbed tail and trooping into the dark cavern that Link had mentioned. There, the Hylian retrieved the lantern from his pouch and lit it, unleashing a wave of ginger light that illuminated the dark passage. Guided by its dancing glow they plunged forth, following the cave's curves and bends as it meandered towards the mountain pass at the other end.

They had barely marched a quarter of the way through the passage when Mekial suddenly grunted and plugged his nose in disgust. "What's that _stench_?"

Brent and Link glanced down at him, and the latter sent his eyes forward again when he nearly tripped over something.

Dropping his gaze, he lowered the lantern until its radiance fell across a mangled body. With its features defaced and twisted almost beyond recognition, he could barely tell what the creature once was.

Mekial leaned to the side in order to see what the Hyrulean was looking at and with a revolted yell he lurched back. "What is _that_?!"

"…A bulbin," Link finally identified, pressing his foot against what he guessed was the beast's cheek and pushing against it until its face was pointed at the ceiling.

Its eyes were still open, revealing the pale hue of its red irises and its jaw was broken and slack. Link dropped his foot and its cheek slumped against the dirt once more.

"It looks like the Shadows have been around here, too." He returned his eyes to the darkness that still lay ahead of them, silently waiting until it could draw them into a cold embrace. "Keep your guards up."

Taking his words to heart the three proceeded with caution, their eyes fixed on the far edges of the lantern's light in anticipation of it falling upon a possible foe. But to their relief they did not meet with anything capable of harm, and so they took the chance to ease their apprehension when they arrived at the exit of the tunnel.

The hour of twilight was still young and so an acceptable amount of sunshine still managed to fall into the pass that the passage led to. As such Link tucked his lantern away and, after glancing up and down the single rocky path that wove in front of them, he led his companions to the right.

Following at the rear, Mekial turned his eyes to the uniform mountain walls that bordered the road and the piles of boulders and rocks that stood at their bases. The entire area was completely unfamiliar to him, but when he turned his gaze forward he quickly recognized a bend in the road as the very same one the merchant caravan had taken during their escape from the bulbin ambush. If he was not mistaken, around that corner the path sloped into a hill, which in turn led to where they had been camping when the monsters had made their initial strike.

Link came to a halt up in front of him, his head tilted back to view the ledges that ran along the upper part of the mountainsides. Undoubtedly they were the same vantage points that the bulbins had used during their attack on the merchant caravan, and also served as a good location when they prepared to open fire on any unaware victims that dared to tread the road below.

But, oddly, there were no bulbins there now, no flaming arrows aimed at his head or the sound of strange, gurgled shouts as they relayed strategies to one another.

In fact, the entire roadway was dissonantly quiet.

Link's eyes fell from the ledges and moved to where the road turned further ahead. Even as he looked at it the snout of a large animal appeared, slowly inching forward until the rest of its body became apparent. With its tiny legs marching forward rather sluggishly and its head bowed to the ground, it almost looked melancholic.

"Hey, it's a boar!" Mekial cried, pointing at the animal, and upon hearing his outburst the oversized pig looked up, fastening its beady, crimson eyes on them.

Registering what they were its ears bent back and its body stiffened, then with a loud snort and a toss of its head it broke into a run, charging towards them with a monstrous roar.

As it drew closer, its nearing weight shaking the earth around them and hind hooves punting dirt and stones into the air, Brent sprinted forth and swung his Bo out, slamming it against the animal's face.

Dazed by the heavy blow the beast slid off course, and as it came near to ramming into the mountain Mekial uttered a soft chant, shooting his hands out of his cloak before flipping them palms-down. In accordance with his spell the ground beneath the boar jounced, and then it sprang up with enough force to send the pig spiraling into the air. It squealed in astonishment and with a pained grunt crashed onto its side.

Silently Link moved towards the felled beast, his left hand rising to grasp the hilt of his sword. As he neared it its red eyes rolled down to him, its breathing labored as it recovered from the attacks dealt by the foreigners. When Link came to a stop in front of it, drawing his weapon from its sheath it closed its eyes defeatedly, discharging a quiet rumble in the back of its throat.

Noticing the boar's submission Link readied his blade, and with one fluid movement he thrust the cold steel into its flesh. The animal squealed when the weapon pierced its body before it went completely still and as he observed it from the sidelines, Mekial's eyebrows arched sadly. But then with a quick shake of his head, he tossed his sympathy aside.

Link stepped back, withdrawing his sword from the pig's torso and swinging it to the side, cleansing it of blood. His blue eyes went back to the boar's wound when a strange lump grew in it and curiously he knelt down, watching as the little bump expelled itself from the depths of the creature's body and plopped to the ground with a soft clatter.

Link blinked at the peculiar bulge for a second, then picked it up.

"What're you doing?" Brent furrowed his brow, watching as Link rubbed the blood off the object and got to his feet.

"Looks like it ate a purple rupee," he said, facing them and holding the item up. Though it was difficult to tell, there was indeed a violet hue to the object underneath its thin layer of blood.

Mekial shivered, revolted.

Brent's face was blank. "That's nasty."

"Mekial, I need you to manipulate the ground beneath the boar so we can get it back to the village," Link said, putting the rupee away and reaching into his belt pouch again. "I'll tie up its hooves so Brent and I can help drag it –"

Cutting himself off he looked up at the road and, suddenly on edge he rounded on the two of them. "Hide!" he ordered and he dove behind a pile of rocks on the side of the path.

Picking up on the sound Link had heard Brent quickly followed, snatching Mekial by the elbow and yanking him along. As they crouched behind the boulders, Mekial looked from one Hylian to the other. "What? What's happening? Is something coming?"

"Trouble's coming," Brent answered, stepping onto a flat stone and hoisting himself up so that he could peek over the boulders.

"What trouble?" Mekial pressed at a whisper, leaning back to look at him, and when his back bumped into Link he shot forward with a faint cry of surprise. He kept his voice low. "Link! You're covered in blood!"

"Calm down, it's not gonna hurt you," Link whispered back, also moving to see if he could look over the rocks.

"Wha–? It's gross!" Mekial burst, his undertone growing harsh. "Am I the only one that's been brought up in a place that teaches that being covered in blood is bad?!"

"Mekial, quiet, they're coming!" Brent snapped, throwing a short glance at the boy.

"Why should I be quiet? Who's coming?!"

"_Mekial!_"

"Tell me who's coming!"

But Brent did not answer, instead falling silent with his eyes fixated on the road before him. Mumbling a number of incoherent phrases under his breath Mekial got to his feet and wiggled his toes into a tiny crevice formed by the rocks, then pulled up until he could gaze over their hiding place.

For a moment all he could hear was his own breathing and in vain he struggled to identify what Link and Brent were so worried about. Just as he made to give up and explode with yet another question, a pair of voices drifted to his ears from the bend in the path, followed by the faint clinking of armor.

"…never been there," a man's voice was saying.

"It's not much yet, but I hear construction's been going well over there," another man responded. "I even heard they got a woman to take the other chief's place and oversee the work."

"Did the other chief retire?"

"I dunno. Maybe."

The voices were closer now, rising in volume until it was only a matter of seconds before their owners arrived around the corner. The clanking of armor grew louder and on either side of Mekial, Brent and Link ducked their heads down a bit. Glancing between them, he did the same.

No sooner had he lowered his head did two Hyrulean soldiers round the curve in the road, swords dangling from their belts and helmets blocking their exact features from view. Mekial's eyes narrowed but they took no notice of his or of his allies' presence, and instead continued their conversation.

"I'd like to stop there and see how things are going for myself," the first soldier went on. "But given our current business, I don't see that happening."

"I know…" The second soldier sighed and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Why can't Prince Malbex take care of his own Shadows? That Alexandria's been popping in and out of the castle ever since the real Zelda showed up again, and he's got her telling us to go run all these stupid errands!"

"'Zelda', huh…" His partner stopped and it was not until the second soldier had walked a few more steps did he halt to look at him.

"What?"

"Not even 'Princess Zelda' anymore." The first soldier dropped his head, his hidden eyes lost in thought. "We've really come a long way, haven't we? We've turned against our own leaders, even the princess. I wouldn't blame the countrymen if they were to find out and call us traitors."

"We're doing this for their sake," the other soldier pointed out bluntly. "We're just making a process easier by obeying a foreigner. Even if we didn't listen to him…it's not like any of this _wouldn't_ be happening. I mean, it'd probably be worse, y'know? If Zelda knew what we were doing…she'd be grateful."

"You say that so easily…" The first soldier shook his head. "But I'm…not so sure."

"Don't tell me you're thinking about backing down?" His ally faced him fully. "You said it yourself: we've come a long way. We can't just throw in the towel at this point."

"I…yeah. You're…probably right." The officer straightened up, then fixed his eyes on a distant object behind his ally. "What's that?"

The other soldier pivoted to find what he was speaking of, and with a gasp identified the dead boar lying in the road. After exchanging quick looks with one another, they hastened towards it.

As they ran closer to Link, Brent and Mekial's hiding spot, the three lowered themselves even further until they were just barely able to peek over the boulders that obscured them.

"Was it a Shadow?" the soldier that had first noticed the carcass asked as his ally examined it. "They're killing animals now? I thought the prince promised they'd only cleanse Hyrule of monsters!"

"Calm down!" his partner flared, kneeling down to scrutinize the beast's wound. "It wasn't them," he finally decided. "This thing was killed by a person, and judging by its warm flesh they only just did it."

"So, what, they just killed a boar and left it?"

"No." The soldier's masked eyes moved up and down the road, as though expecting to see another human standing nearby. "They killed a boar and didn't go very far."

Emitting a short and muffled grunt, Mekial's feet suddenly slipped out of the unsteady crevice he had hooked them into and he noisily collapsed amidst a pile of loose pebbles below. Wide-eyed Link stared at him, while Brent closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the boulder.

"What was that?" The first soldier whipped his head towards the very rocks that the trio was hiding behind, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword. His partner did the same and treading carefully, they made to approach the stone pile.

From his position on the ground Mekial moaned quietly, and as he sat up his eyes snagged onto the soldiers' shadows, which were moving closer to the side of their hiding place. His fingers curled into the pebbles beneath him and his eyes shot to Link and Brent.

"Grab my feet," he barely whispered, throwing a sharp and harried glance at the darkening shadows by the edge of the boulders.

"What?" Brent twisted to look down at him.

"My feet!" the boy repeated, his voice practically inaudible. "Grab my _feet_!"

"Why –?"

"_Just do it!"_ the boy hissed hysterically, lightly kicking his feet on the ground. Without another word Brent and Link kneeled down and did so, and as soon as their hands made contact with the child a strange, tingling sensation washed through them.

"See anything?" the first officer asked his partner as he leaned around the boulders before him.

"…No." The man straightened up and dropped his hand from his sword. "Must've been a loose rock or something."

His ally showed up behind him and, sure enough, there was nothing but a pile of stones and stray rocks to greet his helmeted eyes. With a sigh he released the hold on his hilt and replaced himself in the path. "Well, what do we do about this carcass?"

"Leave it." The other officer also displaced himself from behind the rock pile. "Kargoroks can have it. Or the bulbins themselves."

"Where are the bulbins anyway?" The first soldier looked up at the outcrops that protruded from the sides of the mountains. "I haven't seen any on this pass at all. Isn't this where they usually are?"

"Probably scared to come out 'cause of those stupid Shadows," the other soldier huffed, marching along the road in the direction that they had previously been going. "I don't blame them…"

His scouting partner followed him, and as their metal footsteps marched themselves into near silence a sharp exhale sounded from behind the pile of stones, and like a dropped curtain the invisibility charm that Mekial had cast fell away, revealing his panting form and Brent and Link's crouched bodies as they removed their hands from his boots.

"Good work, Mekial," Link praised, gathering himself to his full height and extending a hand to help him up.

Upon eyeing the boar blood on his outstretched fingers distastefully, the boy got to his feet on his own and dusted himself off.

"The way they were talking made it sound like they've made some kind of negotiation with Malbex," Brent ruminated, rubbing his chin. "But it still sounds like there's some kind of conflict going on with some of them."

"Some of them?" Mekial repeated, straightening out his cloak. "We only saw two of them."

"Well, they can't be the only ones that are feeling the way they are," Brent explained. "I'm just considering they're a fifty-fifty ratio, where half of them are completely okay with what they're doing, and the other half isn't so sure."

"…Huh."

"They also said that the real Princess Zelda's back at the castle," Link added. "Maybe we won't have to stop in Kakariko after all."

"Who were you planning to ask for help from, anyway?" Brent asked, Link's comment reminding him of their original plan.

"Renado," the Hyrulean answered, "the village shaman."

"You mean the guy with the long hair that kept looking at us like we were undercover thieves?" The Arkanian raised his eyebrows. "How can he help?"

"Remember the people that I went to Arkania for?" Link started and Brent nodded in affirmation. "They work as a kind of back-up for the soldiers and are up to speed on events in the city. But they're sort of an underground group. Renado keeps in touch with them, so it's possible he knows what's going on in the capital."

"Uh-huh…" Brent nodded. "Do you know if they made it back?"

"I can't say for certain," Link shook his head, "but it's been a while since we left the empire. They might've made it back a little after we did."

Suddenly recalling something, he lifted his head to make eye contact with Brent. "Now I've got a question for you." His tone of voice had become sterner and so, attentively, Brent waited for his query. "Morbex told me about what happened when you caught the shard back in Snowpeak. It burned you?"

Brent's copper eyes fell away, reclining into memories of the images that had flashed in his mind upon touching the shard of Power. "Sort of," he said deliberately then he looked at his right hand, the one that had seemed to sear with heat upon touching the relic yet bore no mark to prove it. "But it was more like something rushed through me. And it showed me something." He squinted at the pebbles scattered across the ground before refocusing on Link's face. "I think they were visions of your fight with that Ganondorf guy. But…" His eyes slipped away again, fading back into the past. "When I saw them, I felt really angry. It was almost like my pride had been hurt so much that I just hated everything.

"But at the same time, it wasn't really…_my_ hate. Almost like it was just projecting itself through me like I was some kind of…" He paused, hunting for the right description to use. "…Vessel."

Link's thick brow creased and his blue eyes dropped. After a brief moment of thought he finally admitted that he, too, had once had a similar experience back when he, Dijonay and Mekial had gone into the underwater ruins of Talis. An alienated fury had bubbled within him as well, though rather than break contact with the shard something else had coursed through him, flushing the emotion right out.

"Maybe it got washed out of you 'cause of your Triforce?" Brent suggested in follow-up to a moment of thoughtful consideration.

Link said nothing, though vaguely recalled that there had been a quick tingle in his left hand prior to the emotion leaving him.

"Well if it was your Triforce, you should be grateful," Mekial added. "Maybe it is a burden like you said before, but, I dunno." He shrugged. "It seems like it comes in handy to me."

Again Link remained silent, his only reaction being the grim creasing of his eyebrows as his gaze flicked away.

* * *

"Um… Renée?"

"Yeah?" Renée looked up from removing her winter coat and looked at Dijonay, who was sitting on the edge of one of the beds in the inn's room. Her eyes shining with slight embarrassment and a dash of anxiousness, the young noble forced a small smile.

"Um…may I…braid your hair?"

"Huh?" Renée blinked, completely taken aback by the request.

"B-because it is so long," Dijonay rushed, "I just wanted to braid it. I mean, my hair is not all that long, except for this part, so…" She stroked the single braid that she had, following its bumps and curves until it ended just beneath her collar bone. "May I?"

"Um…" Renée scratched her head. "Sure… Why not? But, only one…"

Dijonay's face lit up excitedly and she clapped her hands together as Renée undid the messy bun that her dark hair was pulled into. Once it was free she shook it out, loosening the locks so that they fell past her shoulder bones. As they reached their full length, the prime minister released a soft gasp. "Oh my…! There is more than I thought!"

Renée grinned before plopping onto the bed beside her. "Thanks!"

After being showed to their prepared rooms by Remy, Renée, Dijonay, Katrina and Morbex had decided to relax in one of them until the others returned. It was a rather comfortable, large and homey kind of room, with drapes hanging from both windows and two beds that were dressed in freshly cleaned sheets.

A round table was placed in the area's center with a vase of flowers on top of it, and small lanterns were positioned inside of small, square holes in the plaster walls. With their combined glow the entire room was lit, bringing everything into view so that nothing could be missed.

Even now its light caught the assorted weaponry that the girls had leaned against one of the walls – Katrina's bow and quiver, Renée's sword and dagger, and Dijonay's lance – as well as the pile of coats that they had taken off and placed on a nightstand in between the beds.

"I wouldn't have pegged you as someone that likes to braid hair," Katrina stated from her seat at the table. Morbex, who was across from her, looked up from his thoughts and then over to see what she was talking about. Upon finding Dijonay's fingers weaving gracefully through Renée's hair, he raised his eyebrows.

"Well… I actually used to do this with Renée when we were young," the prime minister replied, her heart light as her thoughts traveled to the distant past. "That was back when her family lived near the Estate, because her mother was a maid and servant of my mother."

"Hm." Katrina rested an elbow on the table and pressed her chin into her hands.

"You remember that, do you not, Renée?" Dijonay asked, tilting her head to the side to look at the side of Renée's face. The girl smiled.

"'Course I do. Who could forget the little girl who always knotted my hair whenever I went to visit?" Dijonay blushed and Renée laughed, and then shifted her dark eyes to Morbex who was watching them curiously. "You're next, Morbex."

"H-huh?" Startled, Morbex straightened up in his chair, his visible eye wide and a faint pink coloring his cheeks.

"Oh come now, do not tease Morbex like that," Dijonay chided, but she delivered a sweet smile to the young prince. "Though, I must admit his hair is rather nice…"

Renée chuckled. "You know you want to."

"I…suppose it would be all right," Morbex relented, his posture easing, "if it would make you happy, Miss Dijonay."

"Really?!" Delighted the girl turned to look at him and yanked on Renée's hair in the process, causing her to release a sharp yelp. "O-oh!" Dijonay refaced her. "I apologize!"

"Just like the old days…" the Arkanian sighed. "…Anyway, Morbex. Can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"Why do you call me, Katrina and Dijonay 'Miss'?" Renée viewed him through her peripheral vision. "Is it some kind of etiquette you were taught because you're a prince?"

"Something like that." Morbex's expression lifted. "All of Eldonis' nobles are taught to address others formally: males are to address females as 'Miss', and females are to address males as 'Sir', unless a higher title precedes it such as "Duke" or "Lady". But there's no such formality between similar genders."

"Really?" Renée raised her eyebrows. "That's interesting. What else is there to know about Eldonis?" She leaned forward to see him better. "Like what was palace life like? I bet in your un-cursed form you were a hit with all the girls, huh –?"

"Ah! Renée you made me mess up!" Dijonay pouted quietly, working her fingers to undo the braid as Renée sat back. "Now I have to start over…"

"Sorry."

"Not exactly," Morbex said in answer to the girl's question, smiling meekly. "I actually didn't get to speak to people much, namely because of my academics and training. My dad wanted me to realize my full potential, because he believed I was a prodigy." His childish face grew troubled. "Whenever I did speak to people the conversations were very…uncomfortable."

"You mean awkward?" Renée blurted out candidly.

"Renée!" Dijonay gave her a light slap on the shoulder.

"What?"

"No, it's all right," Morbex shook his head. "I suppose awkward would be a good way to describe it. They were never casual, friendly conversations. Everyone almost seemed afraid of me for some reason. I was usually addressed by my title and was constantly doted on by my servants, or instructed by my teachers. The only one who ever really treated me like a regular person was Kelvis…"

At this remark Renée's face fell with quiet understanding. "Is that why you like it better when we don't call you Prince Morbex?"

The boy nodded with his eyes fixed on the table, and then he looked at her with a soft smile. "I feel like…we're actually friends if you just call me Morbex. It's not…" his smile broadened, "…awkward."

Renée returned the happy expression. "Then I'm happy to be your friend."

"I, too," Dijonay added, pausing to smile at him as well. She and Renée then looked at Katrina, who shifted in her chair. With her lips tightly-pressed she cast her eyes to the ground and suddenly developed an interest in the polished floorboards.

"She'll come around," Renée assured the Fenri.

"All finished!" Dijonay cheered, dropping her hands and examining the thick braid that now fell over Renée's locks. With all of the girl's hair being dark it was almost difficult to notice, but if one focused they would soon ascertain the bumps and curves that testified to Dijonay's hard work. "It looks beautiful!"

"You would think that," Renée snorted, rising to her feet and stretching.

"What is _that _supposed to mean?"

"I'm kidding!" Renée grinned, looking down at her. "I'm sure it looks great."

Dijonay beamed before rounding on Morbex, her eyes jumping from the silver hair that fell across his shoulders to his face.

"C'mon, Morbex, now it's your turn," Renée cooed, sitting on the bed across from Dijonay to give him her previous seat. "Prepare to be _beautified_."

"Beautified, huh?" Morbex scooted his chair back and crossed the floor to sit by the young ruler, who excitedly fluffed the short hairs on the back of his head before drawing her fingers down to the long strands that hung over his ears. Then she set to work, and across from her Renée pitched forward to press her elbows on her thighs and rest her chin in her hands.

After a moment of silently watching Dijonay twist and flip Morbex's hair into a plait she spoke up again. "Say, Morbex…how old are you?"

Morbex glanced up at her. "…You wouldn't believe me."

"There's a lot of things I thought I wouldn't believe. Like a dragon fainting. Or a tree talking."

"Hmm. …I suppose you have a point," Morbex conceded, meeting her eyes. "I'm twenty-two."

Katrina straightened up in her chair. "Seriously?" she burst before Renée could even open her mouth.

Morbex looked at her. "Seriously."

"When's your birthday?" Renée asked next.

"April nineteenth."

"Wow, so you're due for twenty-three soon!" Renée mused, her eyebrows rising. "So then, um…how old's your brother?"

"Well, seeing as December is here now…" Morbex descended into brief thought. "He's twenty-seven."

"Huh…" Renée sat up. "For some reason I thought he'd be younger than that."

"Yes, well." Morbex lowered his eyes. "He tends to have that impression on people."

It was at that point Katrina twisted in her chair to peek at the door. Following her eyes, the others soon became aware of a certain familiar voice making its way up the corridor.

"…I'm telling you, that dragon looked like it wanted to eat _me_," Brent's muffled voice was saying, "as soon as we dropped those boars in front of it. Probably to get back at me for shooting it."

"The sound of it eating was pretty creepy too," Mekial's high tone sounded. "I felt like I was watching an Arkanian horror play with my eyes closed."

"I'm just glad it's satisfied," Link's voice rose up. "I hope it'll be able to fly tomorrow."

"Yeah," Brent agreed, his footsteps now sounding from directly outside the door. "Is this the room he said?"

"Think so."

The handle revolved and the door opened, revealing the male trio. Upon seeing that everyone else was gathered into the room they stepped inside.

"Welcome back," Renée greeted. "How'd it go?"

"Well, we found the argorok's dinner," Mekial started, "and it's enjoying it…" He trailed off as his eyes moved to the prime minister and he frowned. "Are you…braiding Morbex's hair?"

Brent followed Mekial's eyes. "Dang." He looked at Morbex. "Shoulda taken you with us."

Morbex smiled sheepishly.

"Well, we have something more important to deal with," Link stated, barely casting his attention in Morbex and Dijonay's direction, and he went on to explain what he, Brent and Mekial had overheard while hunting for the dragon's food. He then informed them of the person he had been intending to contact while they were in Kakariko, and added that with the new information they had garnered from the pair of soldiers, he was not sure that the extra trip would be necessary.

By now they only had so much time, and since they now were sure about where Zelda was he figured that they needed to go straight to her and request that she accompany them to the Great Deku Tree. They would then go to Sages, and figure out where to go from there.

"But we'd need a plan to get into the castle to talk to the princess," Renée implied. "I don't think she'd like it if we rode our dragon right into her front yard."

"You can leave an infiltration plan to me," Brent jabbed a thumb into his chest. "I'll have a plan set up for us by the time we're ready to head over there."

"Okay." Renée bowed her head a little. "We're counting on you."

"Looks like we have another big day ahead of us," Mekial said, stretching his arms over his head.

"Right." Link nodded. "We should all try to get some rest. I'm going to go and clean up…"

"Please wait." With his hand already on the door handle, Link stopped to direct his focus to Dijonay when she called out. "…Before you go, there is something that I should say to you…to all of you, in fact." Her hands fell from the completion of Morbex's second and final braid and with a bracing inhale she rotated on the mattress so that she was facing everyone.

"I trust that you all remember," she began, her tone steady, "my promising that I would no longer keep my visions a secret from you. And so, what I say now is in recognition of that promise." She stopped, gaining her bearings and confronting the hazy images of her most recent vision before she continued. "I… When we were in the mountains, I had another vision."

"Did it happen when you fainted?" Mekial broke in, recalling how she had collapsed in the fearsome blizzards of Snowpeak, and when Dijonay nodded his voice tightened. "Then it made you physically react. Dijonay, that's –"

"I am aware," Dijonay met his anxious expression. "It is rare, almost unheard of, for a Seer to react in such a way to Foresight. It may have had something to do with what I had seen.

"The images were rather cloudy, and difficult to make out," she proceeded slowly, "but there are a few things that I am fairly certain of." Her gaze moved to Link. "Such as you, Link. You were with a woman…but…" Her brow crumpled and when she spoke again it was apparent that her voice was losing its strength, as if she did not wish to disclose her information. "You were both pale…and you weren't moving. You were simply…lying there." Her eyes became distant, staring through Link to gaze upon the faded sight of that hopeless future. "It is to my belief, Link…that the both of you were…dead." As she looked at him her eyes hardened and in turn his mouth fell open.

"He was…dead…?" Morbex asked hoarsely, his eyes enlarging. "But…that can't…"

Mekial looked up at the Hyrulean, too stunned to come out with any sort of response. Renée raked a hand through her bangs and knotted the fingers in her hair and Katrina kept her lips firmly pressed together, her eyes retaining their slim shape as she anticipated Dijonay's next words.

"You mean to tell me you foresaw Link _dying_?" Brent summarized, the force of his words suggesting that he could not entirely believe the idea.

"Well who was the woman?" Renée piped up desperately. "Maybe you just saw Tentra disguised as Link, and it was Alexandria lying beside him?"

"I…cannot be certain," Dijonay replied reluctantly, her voice rattling a bit. "But Foresight works like dreams. Some things are completely unfathomable, while everything else is simply a feeling mixed with images. When I saw Link's body, I had a feeling that –" She stopped short, horrified by the words she had nearly spoken.

"Was that all you saw?" Mekial urged.

"No…" Dijonay could not even make herself shake her head. "I…I saw Malbex as well. And…he shot some kind of spell at me and I think I…I…" She sniffed and her eyes glistened as water gathered in their corners.

"That's when you fainted?" her bodyguard assumed. "So you didn't see anything else."

With great effort the prime minister forced her head side to side. "I am…at a loss…" she gasped, working to prevent her tears from falling. "I agreed that I would no longer accept my visions as the absolute future, but…how can…how can anyone possibly prevent…"

"…You said that your visions reveal more and more details to you as you have them, right?" Katrina spoke up evenly, and Dijonay managed a small tip of her head. "Then for now that's all we can wait for, since your vision was so unclear. Just provide us with the details as you get them."

"And especially let us know if you find out where exactly all of this is supposed to happen," Brent added. "That would probably provide the most help." Again, Dijonay nodded.

Renée turned her head, enabling her to view Link in her side view: though his eyes were downcast, she could tell that he was lost in a sea of thought.

She faced forward again, her own visage weighed with grief and a growing cloud of doubt for what now awaited them.

"…We're going to figure this out, Link," she said, rising and facing him. Upon hearing her voice he looked up, his eyes unfocused as they rested on her face. "We've been traveling together for this long. So we're not about to just let something happen to you."

Though Link managed a small smile of appreciation, he could not help the anxiety that dwelled in the far corners of his mind.

It was not his life that he was concerned of losing: rather, it was that of the woman that was predicted to be with him. And when he guessed at whom she was, his fears only intensified.

Morbex's eyes dropped to the floor, his own mind revolving around his brother's plot and the vague descriptions given by Dijonay's sixth sense.

Although he did not desire to believe it, he simply could not make himself dismiss the prospect that the two things could somehow be connected.


	76. Chapter 75

**Chapter Seventy-Five**

"Morbex…?"

At the call of his name the boy rounded to face the being behind him, the entire world nothing but a dismal, black nothingness save for the light that hovered above his left palm.

He raised it slightly and the orb of light bounded higher, its strength intensifying until the far reaches of its glow fell across the face of the person that was there.

Standing at the end of the hill that dove out of the Hidden Village was Link, his pupils shrinking in the great light that beamed at him.

"Oh. Link." Morbex lowered his hand and the light followed, dimming until it could barely make out the counters of the Hylian's face.

"I saw you leaving the inn." Link walked forward until the light could identify Morbex's face for him. "I'm guessing you can't sleep?"

"No…not really." Morbex dropped his eyes from the hero's, and it was only then Link noticed the dark shadows that ringed the skin beneath them. "But I also remembered something."

He turned around and raised his hand once more, letting the orb of light ascend until it was capable of illuminating an arm of the nearby argorok.

His own eyes puffy with lack of sleep, Link followed the barely perceptible outline of the beast's body until he fastened his gaze on the plausible location of its head. "What's that?"

"It's possible to link minds with an argorok after you've tamed it," the imp replied, waving his hand to the side. As if caught in a light breeze his light floated to the right and he followed it. Link did the same. "It's a way that the argorok shows its trust for you, by allowing you to look into its thoughts and memories."

"You wanted to see its memories of Eldonis?" Link quickly guessed as they came upon the dragon's scaled face. Its breathing was slow and easy, and it gave a brief snort as Morbex's orb stopped to hover above its head.

"Yes," the boy confirmed, his exhausted eyes taking in the great reptile's features. "I want to know what's happening to my home." He took an advancing step and kneeled beside the animal's face, placing his small hand on the side of its elongated countenance. "And I want to know why it left."

Without another word the doors of his eyes slammed shut and his head slumped forward, permitting his forehead to press against that of the argorok's.

And immediately, he felt the dark world melt away.

* * *

Through the dragon's eyes, everything looked surreal.

Every visible detail was enhanced and every sound was magnified, rushing from everywhere but still carrying to his ears clearly enough for him to identify what each noise was: the whispering of the wind through the dark cave that his mind's eye was presently trapped in, the faint tinkling of water dripping from stalactites, the patter of animals' feet running through the grassland that he could see just beyond the cave exit…

And the screaming, the endless, horrified wails of pain and suffering. They sounded human but at the same time they did not, swirling and blending with the familiar shrieks of argoroks and the loud flapping of their wings as they hurried to scramble out of the cavern.

Through his heightened vision, Morbex saw the cave suddenly shift around him as if he, too, were one of the creatures fighting for escape. Anxiously he looked behind him, searching to see if any of the fleeing reptiles were making their way towards him to follow him out. But none of them did, instead zipping over him with terrified shrieks.

And for some reason, his heart sank.

But he refaced the cavern's exit and with a single beat of his wings he rose up, then soared out of the dark area and into the daylight.

But could he really call it that? All around him the sky was dark, and cold air hissed through his ears; he could nearly feel it biting through his scales.

Moaning, he turned his head back to the cave he had left and his ears stood up, registering the approaching sound of crackling earth. A dry roar left his throat and he pivoted in the air, watching with mounting horror as the wide mountain range that contained the caves he and the remaining argoroks were fleeing from split and cracked, crumbling into the pits of the earth in massive clouds of dust and soil.

He roared again, so loud this time that it nearly made his own head jangle, and he dove for the cave he had recently burst through, clawing at the descending rock and debris in an effort to dig out those that had not yet made it out.

Even as he performed this task his ears twisted to the left of the cave upon hearing a faint screech. Distracted he looked towards it and quickly identified a thin, red argorok struggling to free herself from a boulder that had pinned half of her wing.

A sense of familiarity overcame him and Morbex reached out to her, his hope of helping her survive blinding him to the crumbling destruction. He stretched his neck and attempted to weave toward her but his body was too big – it was barely even able to move another foot forward.

The other argorok screamed at him helplessly and he tumbled back, losing sight of her amidst an abrupt downpour of stones and dirt from the collapsing ceiling. Parting his extended mouth, he screamed at the cataclysmic devastation as he spiraled back into the shadowy sky, and from there he watched as the caves sank into the earth, dissolving into a growing, black abyss.

With a defeated roar he whirled around, his heightened eyesight searching desperately for a place of refuge.

But there was nowhere: nearly everywhere he looked there was a Hole, ranging in size but always in place of a familiar field or valley. More than once he even saw that one of the gaping fissures had claimed half of or even all of an entire town.

Morbex's heart raced, beating with such force that he could barely hear the sound of his own wings flapping. But still he kept going, craning his head this way and that in an effort to find a place of peace amongst the destruction. But there was no end in sight.

After journeying for miles he finally stopped, turning his head to the east. Upon seeing the memorable city that stood so far in the distance, he was almost positive that he would have dropped out of the sky had everything been something more than a memory.

Nearly the entire capital – the one place that he had truly called home – had collapsed, leaving only small resident homes, scattered manors and half of Palace Eldonis standing. Even from here he could see that most of the mountain the great castle had been built into had crumbled away, along with the buildings that had harbored the servants and soldiers' quarters.

The human screams that he had heard earlier were louder now, racing towards him from the city's direction. Unyielding they filled his ears, drowning his senses and making the world swim and waver before his beady eyes.

Agonized by the overbearing strength of the voices he whipped his head away and soared in the opposite direction, desperate to escape it all. Even as he raced for the mountains that bordered the entire country the cries did not relent, clinging to his ears as soft moans of anguish.

White clouds rushed him next, guiding Morbex's mind out of the devastation of Eldonis and into the dragon's next tragic memory. Snow swept into his eyes and howling gales rushed his ears, overrunning his sensitive hearing and blurring his sight.

Growling in frustration he flapped through the storm awkwardly, bobbing and hobbling in midair towards some unknown destination. Within the next moment he felt his head collide with something, and with a pained roar he broke through the spontaneous wall and crashed onto a stone floor.

Something pierced his right shoulder when he landed, sending sparks of heat shooting through his body and he suddenly raged, flailing and screaming as the sensation burned his insides.

Thrashing and writhing against the floor he struggled to right himself, and in the process caught sight of a peculiar, golden light emanating from the source of his pain. His mouth fell open with an irate bellow and he twisted around again, working to prepare his body for another takeoff.

As he flipped onto his stomach, the tips of his wings scraping against the cramped, stone walls that enclosed him, his snout swung in front of a little figure that was standing there, watching him in petrified terror.

With her entire body encased in a coat of white fur and her small, brown face upturned towards his hellish features, she almost looked like a human garbed in a snowsuit.

Black eyes dilated in growing alarm she took a small step back and, suddenly enraged beyond all comprehension, Morbex shrieked in her face, fire amassing in the back of his throat.

But then his head gave an abrupt and blinding throb and the sore in his right arm intensified, distracting him from his attack. Screaming, he tore his attention away from the creature before him and scrambled up the broken, cylindrical tower he had crashed through and back into the raging snowstorm.

Once he emerged outside, the pale white of the familiar Snowpeak blizzards gradually darkened around him, dulling the pain in his right arm and lessening the pressure that had grown in his skull. The rage he had felt ebbed away with it and a calm darkness settled around him, bringing with it a rush of warm air and the feeling of a close presence.

Breathing deeply, Morbex opened his eyes and slid them to the side, revealing the dim outline of Link's figure hunched beside him with a hand on the imp's back. He closed his eyes and pulled away from the argorok with a soft moan, but before he could fall too far Link's hand steadied him.

"Careful." He lightly pushed against the prince's back, straightening him out. "You nearly fell over earlier, too." He stopped for a second, as if steeling himself for the response to his next question. "Did you see anything?"

"…M-my…home…" the noble barely murmured, his heavy lids fluttering as his mind swirled into the present. "My home…Eldonis…it…" His voice broke and his shoulders wracked with a partly subdued sob.

Suddenly unable to withstand his own weight he sagged forward, his head pressing against the argorok's and hair curtaining his face.

It was all over now.

Who knew how long ago the dragon had escaped the terrifying annihilation of his homeland? Who knew if Eldonis even existed at all anymore?

Who knew if his mother or even his father were still alive?

The more his thoughts dwelled on it, the heavier his heart became. The people of Eldonis had done nothing to deserve such a fate – they had not been involved in any of this. Why, then, had they been forced to suffer in such a way?

He could still hear their screams, still see the land crash and topple into the bottomless Holes that had torn the country asunder. And he wondered: was it truly just the Triforce's imbalance that had caused such destruction?

Or was it something more?

"Morbex?" Morbex started when Link's voice cut through his doubts and his body went stiff. "Is Eldonis –"

"It's nearly gone," Morbex interrupted hollowly. "My people…the land…everything." His fingers curled into a trembling fist. "For all I know…it doesn't even exist anymore."

Link's eyes shone with sadness as he stared at the child, knowing full well the feeling of losing one's home. It had happened to him only a year ago after all.

But even then he had not lost hope. Even then he had found the strength to push through it all and reclaim everything that he had once thought lost. He planted a hand on the prince's shoulder.

"This isn't over yet, Morbex," he declared solidly. "There's still a lot more for us to do – and at the end of it all, we'll save your homeland."

"You didn't see it, Link!" Morbex snapped, shrugging out of his hold. "There were Holes everywhere! Even the capital was destroyed! Everything…" his voice began to falter, "It was all crumbling away…"

_Right in front of me, _he wanted to add.

The very reason he had escaped from that closet in the Twilight Realm, the very purpose for his decision in siding against his own brother was to protect his people, both from Malbex's reckless ambition and from anything else. The dragon's memories only served to rudely if not bluntly, inform him of one, dismaying fact.

That he had failed.

Perhaps he was not cut out to be a Crown Prince – perhaps he was not even cut out to be a king. Perhaps, instead of trying to take things into his own hands, he should have escaped back to Eldonis and warned them of his brother's plot. Maybe then, things would have turned out differently.

_Maybe then…_

"Then I'll help you," Link spoke up, resolve brimming in his tone. "I'll help you find a way to save it."

Morbex raised his head a little and peered at Link's determined gaze through limp, silver fringe. Beneath the gentle glow of the light orb that still floated above them, the sleepy look in the man's eyes had completely vanished.

"I promise."


	77. Chapter 76

**Chapter Seventy-Six**

What with the unveiling of Dijonay's vision, the entire group found it difficult to sleep. In spite of the soft mattresses and warm sheets that had covered them through the night their minds could not settle, thus permitting thoughts and concerns to run wild in their dreams. As such it was unavoidable, but reasonable, when they awoke late the next morning, having drifted off into a troubled rest hours after they had actually climbed into bed.

Once having gathered all of their belongings, they regrouped in the dining room for a breakfast that, according to the innkeeper, Impaz had requested they receive free of charge. After doing a quick head-count at their table, Link soon realized that there was someone missing.

"Is Mekial still in the room?" he asked, directing the question to the one that had bunked with the child.

"I tried waking him up," Brent shrugged. "When I was leaving to come down here he was kind of rolling out of bed…" His eyes wandered over to the stairs that led to the second level of the hostel. "Oh, there he is."

Misty-eyed and a little light-headed, Mekial trekked his way down the steps and looked up to locate his allies in the large, square foyer. After spying their location he walked over and plopped into the empty chair beside Dijonay.

"I had a weird dream," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"What about?" Dijonay asked curiously as the others granted him an audience.

"We were all walking through some field," the boy started darkly, "and then this huge, black and white bear jumped out of a forest and started chasing us. And then the argorok swooped in and ate it."

Everyone stared at him.

"It was kind of gory," he admitted.

Link shook his head. "You're not hunting anymore."

"That's nothing," Renée huffed. "When we were kids, he told me about this one nightmare where he was in a dark room, and when the lights went on –"

"Please don't," Mekial begged.

"Awww," Dijonay pouted. "I want to know now…"

"Maybe another time," Link said, and looked over at Brent. "By the way, did you come up with a plan for getting us into the castle?"

"Yeah, I –" Brent began, only to be cut off by the sound of another voice. As one the group turned their eyes to the inn's entrance and found Valterra marching towards them, her red eyes gleaming angrily.

"That dragon of yours needs to learn some manners," she growled as she came up to their table. "It went and vomited all over the road leading out of the village."

"Vomit?" Morbex echoed quietly and he looked at Mekial beside him. "What did you feed him?"

"Nothing weird," the boy said defensively. "Just two boars. …Plus a bulbin carcass," he added after a shameful pause.

"A bulbin…" Morbex's brow furrowed as his mind dredged up an image of the foul, Hyrulean monster. "A _bulbin_?!" His eyes refocused on Mekial, horrified.

"Don't look at me, it was Link's idea!"

"_Thanks, _Mekial," Link frowned.

"I can't believe you fed it a dead monster…" Morbex groaned, bowing his head. "I said it eats _fresh _meat…"

"I tried telling him it was a bad idea," Mekial protested, "but its body was stinking up the passage leading out of the village, so Link just figured we might as well feed it to the argorok!"

"I thought the whole 'fresh meat' thing was just a preference," Link said in his defense. "How was I supposed to know that a dragon can be a picky eater?!"

"Will it be able to fly?" Dijonay asked concernedly.

"The stuff it hocked up looks like it was sitting around for a while," Valterra informed her, folding her arms. "Unless dragons are capable of food poisoning as much as they are of fainting, I doubt you have much of a problem. Before you leave, make sure to clean it up."

"Clean up dragon puke?" Mekial twisted his face.

"It's _your _pet," Valterra shot back. "And don't think for one second that we'd want the chewed up guts of a bulbin to act as our new welcome sign."

"You have my sincerest apologies, Miss Valterra," Morbex said, raising his head to meet her gaze. "It will be taken care of."

Valterra nodded, holding his red-eyed stare before she tore her own eyes away. "Well, good luck to you all with whatever it is you're doing." She dropped her arms and after a moment of hesitation, let her eyes jump to Link's face. "As for you," she began, "Grand… Impaz informed me of the details surrounding the Soldier's Rebellion. I suppose for now I'll have to take her word for it. I apologize for my treatment of you yesterday." She almost swallowed her next words, but continued to push them out anyway, "I lost control of my emotions. As for whoever's really responsible, well," the reluctant look in her crimson eyes dissolved into subdued hatred, "I'm just sorry I can't see him myself."

Without another word she left them, long dark ponytail swinging, and exited the building.

"She's scary," Renée spurted as soon as the door shut in the woman's wake. "She's like a…a…_man-lady_."

"Because she is so muscled?" Dijonay attempted to clarify and Renée made a sound of agreement.

Brent stifled a laugh. "Well, man-ladies aside, I do have a plan on how we can get into the castle. But it's not solid, because I'd like to have a better idea of the castle's design and how things are structured."

"You mean recon?" Renée sat back in her chair as Brent nodded. "How exactly are we supposed to get that?"

"I'm not looking for anything exact," Brent clarified, "just a rough idea. In fact, Link, I was wondering if you'd be able to get us to those friends of yours that you went looking in Arkania for."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Link replied thoughtfully, "considering they're at the city pub, which is where they usually hold their meetings. Were you thinking of getting something from them?"

"Yeah," Brent leaned back when one of the inn's newly hired waitresses approached their table and proceeded to unload a large tray of breakfast dishes.

He sent her a quick "thanks" when she laid a plate of pancakes and eggs before him, and then went on in a hushed tone as she put dishes in front of everyone else, "You said they're an underground group that works as back-up for the soldiers, so I figured they may know a little bit about the layout of the castle and how the security works. Saves us a hassle and prevents me from making a floppy plan, y'know?"

Link nodded in understanding. Though he, too, had once been inside of Hyrule Castle, it had been during a time when its interior had been distorted so as to keep him from reaching Zelda, who had been held hostage on the topmost floor. He had absolutely no idea what the grand manor's insides actually looked like.

Dijonay and Mekial had similar feelings: even though they had also seen the inside of the castle, they had not been paying enough attention to the set-up or patrol routes that the officers took.

After their meal was complete the group took their leave of the inn and journeyed towards their dragon. As Valterra had made known to them there was indeed a pile of vomit in front of the village: a rancid stench was coiling off of it and with it being a massive, sludgy mess, it looked like a slop of nasty porridge.

The argorok was facing away from it, having turned around in its sleep so that the terrible odor could not defer its rest. But even as they neared the dragon's head the smell hit them full force and they nearly threw up themselves; Mekial choked out a chant and stomped his foot on the ground, sending a wave rippling through the dirt that shot towards the rejected food and created a ditch that swallowed it whole. As soon as it had fallen into the earth the hole closed up, sealing the smell away.

Before they could even climb onto the argorok's back, however, Morbex made sure that it was not terribly ill. Once assured that the creature was fine he murmured a few words to it and then hauled himself onto its neck, gesturing for the others to climb aboard.

As soon as they had settled in Morbex spoke a few words to the beast, patted its neck and, tilting its neck back it shot into the sky, knocking clouds of dust into the air with its powerful takeoff.

Due to the incoming season of winter the group had kept the cloaks they had worn in Snowpeak: with the air being chilly as December's frost rolled in, the temperature near the clouds was despairingly low. Fortunately, the coats protected them enough to keep their teeth from chattering and goose bumps from leaping across their skin.

Link instructed for Morbex to dive lower to the ground as they came upon the capital, for concern of attracting the eyes of citizens from afar. Morbex complied and ordered the argorok to swoop closer to the landscape, where they scoured for a place to land. They soon decided upon a hill that was crowded by an encirclement of trees and dismounted there, then climbed down a slope and trooped over to the cobblestone walkway that led into South Castle Town.

In this part of the city stood the marketplace, alive with hollering salesmen and bustling citizens as they shopped for items believed necessary for their home or a special event. It was just as busy as Link remembered it and, thanking the goddesses for its crowdedness, he proceeded to guide his company through the masses and towards the small back road staircase that descended to Telma's Bar. It was not long before he found it and, after peeking back to ensure that his allies were still behind him, he hopped down the steps and into the dead-end alley that harbored the popular tavern.

Standing in front of the second set of stairs that led down to it, he suddenly came to grips with the fact that it had not been that long since he had last been there. He could still clearly remember it, in fact: the letter that had arrived at his door, the finding of the postman's corpse, the conversation with the princess that had started this entire quest…

He shook himself out of his trance when everyone else trickled into the area and he descended the short stairway towards the pub. But even as he approached it his blue eyes latched onto a poster hanging next to the sign, and with his heart clenching he recognized his face on it.

He stopped. "Maybe we shouldn't all go in at once," he said, turning to view the others. "We might get noticed."

Brent glanced at the wanted poster. "Good point. You and me, then." He grabbed the door's handle before Link could react and assuring the others that they would be quick, he stepped inside with the Hyrulean in tow.

Under the bar's dim lighting they found that the place was barely populated. Most of the tables were empty, save one that had a small group of adventurers huddled around it, and another that had a trio of soldiers.

Upon noticing the second group Brent and Link hurried away from the door and approached the front counter, where the bartender had to do a double-take before her eyes bulged.

"L –!" Telma started, then dropped her tone as the Hylians drew nearer. "What – why – where –" Her eyes jumped between Link, Brent and the soldiers.

Despite her obvious astonishment, Link could not help the relief he felt for knowing that she was safe. "You made it back all right," he said, ignoring her sputtering and as his words registered in her mind, her thoughts cleared. Still, she did not share in his joy.

"Why are you here?" The demand was hushed, but even so Link could still hear the anger that traced it. "Your face is all over the place after that Rebellion thing – and what was that all about anyway? What were you thinking? I tried sending you a letter, but the postman's been absent for a while –"

"It'll take a while to explain," Link cut in, and suddenly felt very tired. "But before I do please, Telma, believe me when I say that I'm not the one who did any of that."

Telma paused at that, silently scrutinizing him as if attempting to perceive a lie. The longer she looked at him however, the more her doubts began to recede, defeated by the kind-hearted and gentle presence that she remembered him being so prone to giving off. And so she relented.

Though only a small amount.

"All right…" She leaned back. "I believe you, hon." Her eyes flitted to the soldiers in the rear and her brow furrowed with concern once more. "But as for the rest of the city and the soldiers…I can't say the same for them."

Link cast an evanescent look to the side when the officers exploded into peals of laughter.

Telma sent them an unimpressed scowl, then let her attention drift to Link's companion. She examined him shortly. "Brent…right?"

The Hylian tipped his head. "That's me."

"I remember you," Telma smiled. "We owe you and your group a lot after what you did to help us out of that prison cell. I can't begin to thank you enough."

"Hey, well," Brent shrugged a shoulder but could not prevent a grin from flashing across his face, "that's our job."

"Telma, do you remember when the Sages told you about the shards?" Link broke in, hoping to complete their intended task before one of the soldiers could gain the impulsive urge to look up.

When Telma nodded, he plunged into a summarization of what he and his allies had gone through and how far along they were with their quest. He even made sure to include the story of Morbex and Malbex, as well as the fact that Tentra was the one that had framed him for the Soldier's Rebellion, and that Malbex had somehow managed to wriggle himself into the Hyrulean government.

As Link laid out their predicament he found a strange pressure rising from his back, as though bottling up and shortening the tales of his quest when he spoke with others had left him laden with a heavy burden.

But now being able to wholly confide in an old friend without fear of making them panic, he felt lighter. Something dreary must have left his face as well because when he glanced over at Brent he noticed that the Hylian was staring at him, dumfounded.

He never knew Link could talk so much at once.

"Wow," Telma breathed when Link finished by requesting her aid in planning a way into the castle. "Looks like you've got your hands full this time around, huh? Good thing you've got friends helping you out." She winked at Brent who, caught completely off guard, felt his heart jump.

"But I'm sorry to say that the others aren't here, if you hadn't noticed already," the woman added remorsefully, and she nodded her head over to an abandoned table in the back. "They'd know of a way to help you more than I would.

"But still," she went on, noticing the disappointment that was inching onto Brent and Link's faces, "I may not know much about the castle, but I do know of a way you can get in undetected."

* * *

When Link and Brent reemerged outside, the others, who had seated themselves around the alley, sprang to their feet. Renée was first to ask if they had figured anything out and Link gave her the suggestion that Telma had given them.

Upon hearing the word "waterways" Renée's shoulders slouched, Dijonay made a face, Morbex looked reluctant and Mekial sighed. Katrina, however, did not have any outward reaction towards the prospect.

"The sewer?" Renée groaned. "Seriously?"

"I've used it before," Link assured her, "and it's not all that bad. Besides the smell, anyway."

"The smell's the worst part…"

"What were you doing in the sewers?" Mekial asked quizzically, but his question fell on deaf ears.

"Well, right now it's our only shot," Brent said firmly, "and we don't really have any other options."

"So then what's your plan?" Mekial inquired, fixing his eyes on him. "We sneak in through the sewers and run through the castle, hoping the guards don't smell us coming?"

"There are a few routes that the sewers take," Link informed him. "According to Telma, my friend who we just talked to," he threw in at Mekial's confounded expression, "some of the passages open up outside the castle, while others lead to key points on the inside: one goes into an old dungeon, another into the infirmary, and another even goes to the tower that practically connects right to the throne room."

Renée quirked her brow. "How did she know all of that?"

"She gave us a map of the sewer system and the capital," Brent replied, holding up two folded sheets of paper in his hand.

"She had a map of the sewage system?" Katrina finally spoke up, staring at the papers suspiciously. "Why?"

"Well, she's in an underground group," Brent answered plainly. "It kind of works like the Hylian Rights Groups back in Arkania. I mean, there are some things we have that most people wouldn't believe, like a map of the Thrall Cell."

Katrina made a face implying she agreed.

"Okay, fine," Renée sighed, dragging Link and Brent's eyes back towards her, "how do we get into the sewers?"

"Actually, we can get in through here." Link walked over to a short archway in the alley's brick wall, which was blocked by rusted, iron bars. A tiny stream of water was trickling out of it, following a gutter in the stone road. "All we have to do is get rid of these bars and we're in."

At that all eyes turned to Mekial and he in turn stared right back at them.

But one second later, he understood what they wanted.


	78. Chapter 77

**Chapter Seventy-Seven**

Zelda stared out over her capital city, hands laced over her stomach and blue eyes glowing with despair in the radiant blaze of morning. From her location on the highest outdoor point of Hyrule Castle, with the grand staircases that led to the throne room rising behind her, she could see every bit of the great town, from the lovely plaza to the narrow roads that wound between the homes.

She twisted her lip and her eyebrows crinkled. Everything looked the same.

And that was what bothered her: that no matter how horrid the situation really was Hyrule always seemed to maintain its splendor. Even now, despite everything that had occurred, it still shone brilliantly in this peaceful hour of daylight.

Even so she could find no solace, no hope in the fact that her home could uphold its tranquility in the face of trouble.

Perhaps because she herself could not uphold her own.

Not even a week had passed since she had been thrown into her castle, humiliated by a foreigner and left to clean up the mess that he had made of her country. But even though she had been returned to her ruling position the chaos that she had to manage was too much.

The castle was not even hers anymore, no matter what that Prince Malbex had said. The soldiers did not revere her, their cordial bows stiff and heartless, and the very shadows of the corridors seemed to move, watching her wherever she went. Constant shivers ran up her spine whenever she walked the halls and her heart always leaped into her throat when a guard crossed her path.

On top of that, indignation and vengeance had been stirring in the lands that surrounded her. Fingers were being pointed and countries were being accused of killing other countries' leaders: Galdea to the north had even been confronted by the headstrong officials of Esir to the northeast, and with dread Zelda presumed that war would erupt between them. What was even more upsetting was that because Hyrule was allied with Galdea she, too, would be drawn into the battle.

But, although the Hyrulean army was large, there was no one to lead it, for every last one of her generals and a good portion of her best soldiers had been run out of the country. While she had heard enough rumors and theories that they had taken refuge in the northern mountain ranges, retrieving them would be far too risky; they probably would not even return to the castle if she sent for them, out of concern that she was still Alexandria Ruheart in disguise.

She could not promote any of the remaining soldiers to the post of general either, for they were too inexperienced. To top it off she herself would not be able to lead the armies because she had to care for the citizens, who were just as rustled and bothered as the rest of the world.

They were irate and distraught, torn apart by the recent skirmish of the Soldiers' Rebellion and even more angered by the fact that Link was rescued from execution. They cared not for his companions but desired with all of their anguished hearts for him to be hanged, for him to pay for leading the blood-spilling attack that he had not even been present for.

Despite their feelings Zelda could not go through with preparing squadrons to search for the Ordonian. He was on a search of his own, hunting for the shards of Power so that he could keep them out of unworthy hands. If she were to send a group out to find him, she would be interfering with this important duty.

And if the soldiers were to find him, she would have to execute him before the entire city.

Should she do that, the country would lose the only man that had ever, truly, fought for it, even if the people never knew it. By extinguishing such a selfless life she would be surrendering to Malbex and whatever vile plot he had in his conniving mind.

Desperately she wished to reveal this truth to her countrymen, to let them know of the dire situation that they had blindly been caught up in. But doing such a thing would only result in a countrywide panic – and that was the last thing she needed.

Never before had the princess felt so alone, trapped with so many people and yet unable to communicate with any of them. There was no one for her to speak to, no one that would be able to offer her advice on what she should or even could possibly do. The king and queen had passed and her most trusted captain, Regal, was imprisoned in the dungeons for aiding in Link's escape.

With all her heart she desired to release him but she was well aware of the consequences that were paired with treason. If she did let him out it would only be for one thing, and that was something that she did not even want to consider. The mere thought made her heart ache to the point of bursting and so instead she had decided to leave the captain in chains, prolonging the inevitable but at the same time, preserving his life for that much longer.

With a strangled hiccupping noise Zelda bowed her head, sun-kissed tears welling in her closed eyes. It was both remarkable, yet unbearable, how horrid things had become, and how quickly.

In less than a season her entire country had been overturned and hope's light had strayed from her. Despair consumed her and surely, confidently, she could say that she was at a loss of what to do next. In fact, she was at a loss of what her ancestors would do – or of what the first Zelda would have done.

She sniffed, opening her soaking eyes just enough to be able to view the back of her right hand. She covered it with the other and raised her chin, letting her eyes drag across the capital rooftops until they climbed up to the horizon.

Although distraught standing here, alone and confused, the thought of giving up seemed to hurt more. There had to be something she could do that could change everything.

There was always something.

Brushing away her tears the princess turned, striding gracefully across the stone balcony and towards the double-doors that were tucked between the staircases that ascended to the throne room. Quietly she pulled one open and stepped into the corridor beyond.

As she drew the door shut behind her, her dark blue eyes fell upon a pair of servants further down the hall. With their voices hushed they ambled along in Zelda's direction and, upon feeling her watching gaze, they looked up and clamped their mouths shut.

Mumbling quiet, morning greetings they curtsied respectfully, which Zelda returned with an emotionless nod of acknowledgement. It was not until she had taken a few steps past them did they look up and resume their conversation, their voices low so as to keep them from bouncing around the cavernous passage.

Even still, Zelda picked out enough words from their discussion to successfully assume that they were gossiping about the castle's present state of turmoil and of their pity for their princess. Once, one of them uttered Malbex's name and instantly the corners of Zelda's eyes flinched, and her muscles tensed.

Yet, in spite of the anger that was at the forefront of her emotions, a look of deep sorrow still managed to cross her usually harbored expression, rising from where it festered in the deepest parts of her being.

_No…_

Zelda forced the sadness down, shoving it back into the tender corners that it hailed from.

She could not give in.

She would not.

Acquiring her composure, the young noble crossed into a connecting passage and marched down the stairs at its end, spiraling down to the lowest levels of the large manor. There the high-vaulted ceilings lowered and the long blue carpets that spanned the stone floors disappeared. The chandeliers no longer dangled above, their light instead replaced by the glow filtering through open-air windows that looked out into the courtyards that bordered the castle's exterior.

Zelda barely cast her eyes at the décor, instead keeping her attention focused on the arched, wooden door that the stone corridor bridged to. Wrapping her hand around its bar handle she gave it a strong tug and with a rattling creak it swung open, though made sure to scrape against the hard floors defiantly as it did.

With it ajar, Zelda stepped into the cold, windowless area beyond and raised the hem of her dress as she approached a descending, torchlit stairway. The heels of her boots clopped hollowly as she followed the wide steps, accompanied only by the crackling fires that danced in the torches. But then the eerie calm was broken by another pair of footsteps, and after slowing her own pace Zelda soon identified them as the steps of a soldier.

Sure enough one of the castle guards emerged from the darkness in front of her, head bowed and armor clanking as he marched up the stairs. Upon spotting Zelda's gown in the corner of his helmeted vision he looked up and dropped into a hasty bow.

"M-morning, Your Highness," he said as he straightened his back. "Just delivering food to the prisoners."

"I see." Zelda's face smoothly hid her thoughts, which did nothing more than make the guardsman feel rather uneasy. "And what of our most recent prisoner? How is he faring?"

"H-He's…uh…" The soldier glanced down to where he had come from. "Faring well, I suppose. As well as any prisoner can, anyway." He cracked a smile that the princess did not return and his face, as well as his shoulders, fell.

"Where is his cell?" Zelda inquired and at this the soldier seemed to stiffen, as though hesitant of granting an answer. Zelda watched him carefully, the firelight dancing across her visage, and after a moment the soldier finally made a gesture that implied the presence of a long corridor.

"A-at the far end, Your Highness."

"Thank you." Zelda gave him a short tip of her chin and the guard bowed again.

"By your leave, Princess." He started back up the stairs, only to halt when the ruler called out to him once more.

"What is your name, soldier?"

The officer paused and refaced her, almost fearful. "It's…" He gulped. "It's Isaac, Your Highness."

"Isaac." Something in Zelda's eyes hardened and the guard shrank before her. "How long have you been serving as a soldier?"

"Not…not very long," the guard replied, and it was then Zelda became aware of the counters of his face that were not contained by the helmet. Judging by the length of his jawline and the slight slouch he had in his posture, his words had to be true: it did not even look as if he were a day over nineteen.

"I was just taking over for one of the guards here, for a little while," he hurried on, noticing the probing look in her eyes, for it was uncustomary for someone of his age to be put in charge of anything having to do with the dungeons. "I'm usually out guarding the courtyards, but the guard stationed here had a bit of a headache, so…"

"Do not worry," Zelda interrupted calmly, raising a hand. "I merely wanted to ensure that I would be able to trust you. I can trust you, can I not?"

"Of course, Your Highness!" the soldier exclaimed, suddenly standing taller. "It is an honor to be trusted by one of your stature. I could never betray your…" he trailed off, spotting a glint of hope flash in the princess's gaze, "…trust…" He swallowed.

"I believe you, Isaac," she said, sending a prayer of thanks to the heavens. "I must now ask you to swear that everything that happens from now until you fulfill my orders hereafter, you must not speak of to anyone. Can you swear to that?"

"Scout's honor!" the boy burst, clapping a hand to his heart. Zelda stared at him, eyebrows raised, and the soldier's face turned a deep shade of scarlet. "I-I mean… I swear to you, Princess Zelda." He bowed, his jaw set, as he repeatedly punched himself in his mind. "I will speak a word of this to no one."

When he was back to his full height, Zelda gave him a nod of approval. "Then I would like you to accompany me."

The guard lifted his head to stare at her, confused and worried all at once, before he managed to find his voice. "Y-yes, Your Highness." Satisfied with this, Zelda turned to the stairway and proceeded to guide him back into the dungeons. After mentally scolding himself for his childish outburst one last time, Isaac fell into step behind her.

At the bottom of the staircase Zelda rounded a sharp corner and glided down the torchlit, cell-lined corridor. Some of the prisoners within looked up curiously upon spotting her flowing gown while others ignored her, having sunken into a deep sleep. Still others threw themselves against the bars of their cage, throwing out their hands in an attempt to grab her shoulder and plead for mercy.

Desperate to redeem himself Isaac managed to shove some of their hands away, though suffered from slaps and scratches in the process. Even still he continued, shouting for the criminals to leave them alone. Their calls dimmed the further along they traveled until they died away upon coming to the conclusion that Zelda did not intend to give them any attention.

When she and the soldier arrived at the cell on the farthest end they halted, and looked at the chained man within.

Feeling their unrelenting stares Regal Inkert lifted his bearded chin and stared up at them dully.

"So…this is it." Despite his bleak surroundings the strength in his voice had yet to fade, and beneath the torchlight Zelda could see that he was not entirely unkempt: though his hair was a little disheveled and his tunic and pants were soiled, he did not appear to have broken like the other prisoners.

Not yet, anyway.

With a faint tinkle of his chains, the captain rose to his feet. "Well, let's get on with it."

"…Captain Inkert." Zelda's despair washed full onto her face and her blue eyes swam with sincere remorse. "I am so terribly sorry for what has happened to you. But I cannot be more proud of what you have done for me."

Regal's thick brow knit together as though he was insulted, and he stepped closer to the cell bars, granting him a better view of Zelda's face. Now towering at least a foot over her, he scowled with genuine disdain. "I didn't know what to believe when I was told about you, _Princess,_" he said lowly, orange light flickering in his black stare. "I didn't want to believe that you were an imposter, in fact." Zelda's eyes flashed and Isaac, stunned, looked from Regal to her. "But now, you're actually thanking me for what I've done?"

"Captain Inkert…" Zelda took a step back and raised her right hand with the back facing him. His eyes lit up when the blessed treasure of the royal family glowed through her glove. "I am Zelda."

"Y-Your Highness!" Regal took a step back, shocked and suddenly disgusted by his own behavior. "Please, forgive my insolence!"

"I do not blame you, Captain," Zelda assured him, lowering her hand. Beneath the shade of his helmet, Isaac regarded the ruler with a look of awe. "There was no way for you to have known."

"Please, accept my most humble apologies, Your Highness," Regal reiterated, his head bowed. "But…is it true that you were…" He glanced at Isaac. "…Impersonated?"

Zelda sighed quietly and her face grew troubled. "Yes, Captain. It is true."

Regal's jaw tightened and his hands, clasped in irons behind his back, clenched into fists. "But…why would anyone…"

"I cannot say," Zelda said after she was sure that the captain had decided to leave his sentence unfinished. "All that I do know is that there are hardly any soldiers left that are still loyal to their country and to me. Save this one," she looked at Isaac appreciatively and with a flutter of pride, he felt himself stand a bit taller, "and you, Captain." Zelda returned her eyes to the man that was caged before her. "Because of your loyalty and everything that you have done, I am unable to give you some form of public punishment with a clear consciousness."

"I am grateful, Princess," Regal said candidly. "But, even if my actions were in the right, they go against the law and duty of a soldier, at least in the eyes of the public."

"Yes, I know." Zelda held his gaze. "But I am sure, Captain, that you have heard rumors of the escaped generals and their subordinates having taken refuge in the northern mountains?"

Regal paused, his thoughts rewinding to his last few days as a free man. "Yes, I did."

"Then, Captain, in exchange for your freedom," Zelda began, "I desire for you to investigate these claims for me. And should they indeed be true, I wish for you to remain with those soldiers."

"I understand, Princess." Regal nodded, though one more inquiry remained to be asked. "But, this 'exchange' seems more like you're simply permitting me to escape."

"Then allow me to clarify," Zelda replied darkly. "I am acquainted with a good number of those generals, and there is not a single cloud of doubt in my mind that they are conjuring a plan for the retaking of this castle. I also believe that word has most likely spread of your imprisonment, given your good standing. As such, it is even more likely that the generals will be suspicious of you and of everything else that has been occurring within this castle. Even within this country.

"Even so, Captain, I ask you this: that you find those soldiers and explain what has happened here, and then join their ranks. I want you to aid them in their plans. They know that something strange is happening within this country's system, and like the soldiers here, they know who is behind it. I want you to help defeat that person." She placed a hand on her chest. "And should I rise to fight against them, in contradiction to my orders now, I want them to defeat me." Her tone was firm, as was the determination that surfaced in her eyes. "For they should know that a princess that sides against them is not a princess at all."

Regal observed her silently, working her orders into his mind. Barely a second later, her instructions suddenly rang clear and he nodded his head.

"I understand, Princess."

Zelda nodded to him as well then looked over at Isaac. He was still gawking at the conversation that had been held before him but, at her gesture, he returned to himself and quickly stepped forward to unlock Regal's door, then release the chains that were clamped over his wrists.

As the thick metal clattered to the ground the captain rubbed his wrists, relishing in the feeling of them being free once more.

It was in silence that they returned to the upper level corridor that connected to the dungeon, and upon stepping out into the brightness of day Regal squinted, blinking as his eyes readjusted to the shining rays of morning.

"You know of the passage that leads to the stables through here?" Zelda stopped in front of an archway that opened to one of the courtyards.

Figuring that the question was directed at him, Isaac glanced over to the tunnel on the opposite end of the square, and immediately recalled that it led right to the stables. He nodded in reply.

"Then take the captain there and help him ready a horse for his travel. After that, you may report back to your post."

"Yes, Your Highness." Isaac proceeded to guide Regal through the outdoor garden.

"And Isaac," Zelda called and he swung around to face her. "A word to no one."

He tipped his chin. "No one, Your Highness."


	79. Chapter 78

**Chapter Seventy-Eight**

"This is absolutely _horrible_." Dijonay lifted one of her boots out of the ankle-deep sewage and wrinkled her nose.

"Brent, please tell me we're almost through," Renée moaned, her voice nasally due to her fingers being closed around her nose.

"We've barely been down here for five minutes," Brent said flatly, glancing down at the map in his hand. "You're gonna have to be a bit more patient than that." But even he could not deny the fact that he wanted to get out of the city waterways as quickly as possible.

After Mekial had melted and bent the rusted iron that barred the entrance to the sewer system, the group had climbed into the tunnel and skidded down the watery slope to drop into the underground passages. Spoiled stenches and stomach-twisting odors had greeted them upon arrival and it took all of Katrina's willpower to not barf up her breakfast.

After using Mekial's orb of light to check their location on the map Brent had begun to guide the party through the underground system, periodically glancing at side passages and peeking at the map to see if he wanted to follow them.

Ripples erupted around his feet with each step that he took and as he stopped to bury his face in the parchment for a third time, one of the waves expanded to startle a large and furry creature.

With a wild squeak it scampered off, but not before Dijonay could spot it and release a shrill scream of terror. "Wh-what was that?!"

"It looked like a rat," Link answered, watching as the black object darted around a corner.

"A rat?!" Dijonay squealed. "That is _detestable_!"

"We're in a sewer, Dijonay," Brent said matter-of-factly, raising his head from the parchment. "There's gonna be more of them."

Disturbed by that idea Dijonay whimpered and inched closer to her bodyguard, who looked just about as worried as she did.

"Besides the gross fact that I'm getting used to this smell," Renée started, raising her head to look at the tall, straight tunnel that they were walking through, "this place is actually kind of…cool."

"Seriously?" Katrina choked out.

"Well, I don't think we have stuff like this back in Arkania," Renée pointed out. "Not out in the countries, at least. Maybe in the empire's capital, but still. This place is almost like some kind of underground, secret passageway!"

"Judging by the smell, I'd be able to tell why it's such a secret…" Katrina wrapped her jacket collar around her nose.

They trekked through the connecting tunnels for a while longer, shifting to follow sharp curves and in some places crossing narrow bridges that connected one wall of the sewer to another. As Brent had guessed they did indeed cross paths with more rats, some of which were rather hostile and so were given a quick end by either Link's blade or a blast of fire from Mekial's fingertips.

Dijonay was less than amused whenever the flame-covered rats ran around, flailing wildly until they tumbled off the platform and into the sewage water.

After what felt like an eternity, Brent finally came to a halt in front of a small tunnel on the left and looked down at the map in his hands, then swapped it for the one of the castle.

"It looks like we want this one," he informed the others and ignoring the sighs of relief, he tucked the maps into his pocket and hoisted himself into the raised passage.

"Careful," he called over his shoulder. "It's slippery."

He climbed through, back hunched and boots sliding up the smooth, rising floor. In the closed space the waterways' unyielding stink increased tenfold, and with his eyes watering he plugged his nose.

Mekial's light hovered barely a foot in front of him, igniting the slanted, slimy walls and falling across the shiny ground below. With his eyes narrowed against its bright glare Brent attempted to peer beyond it, watching and waiting for some kind of exit.

As he did the bright, colorless hue of the mage's orb began to take on an orange glow. Brent thought nothing of it for a second, but when his head bumped against an iron bar he stopped and realized that the orange tint was coming from a torch on the other side of the poles.

He held a hand out behind him, instructing for the others to stop and then he ducked his head, gazing out from under Mekial's light to see what lay beyond the bars: with his vision limited by the arched entry that they blocked, all he could see was that there was a small circular room ahead of him with a dark door off to the side. Right beside it was a set of spiral stairs that rose around a corner and out of sight.

Turning his head back a little, Brent called for Mekial to put out the light – which the boy quickly did – and then for him to come up and get rid of the bars that prevented them from advancing any further.

Answering the call Mekial pushed and scooted his way around the others as he made his way to Brent, but nearly slipped and in an attempt to save himself grabbed Brent's jacket, practically taking him down with him.

"Careful!" Brent snatched the boy's wrist and pulled him forward, shifting aside to grant him clear access to the bars.

Just as Mekial made to touch them Brent hurriedly snatched the boy's shoulder, startling him and urging him to a crouch.

Seconds after he had done so a soldier marched across their vision from the left, having come from a connecting hallway. The sewer exit was too low for him to notice it and so he walked by without a glance, following the corridor towards some unknown destination.

When he was positive that he was gone and that no one else was coming, Brent patted Mekial's back, implying that the coast was clear.

He almost fell back when an explosion burst from Mekial's hands, blowing the bars clean out of the wall with the resounding clang of metal.

"What was that?!" Brent half-shouted, climbing out of the tunnel after Mekial had.

"Brent, that place stunk and you know it," the mage said. "Melting the bars would've taken too long!"

"That doesn't mean you need to let the whole castle know we're here!" Brent retorted.

"Then let's just get outta here before someone wonders what that was," Renée decided, setting a hand on her brother's shoulder before he could argue back. "Where to?"

"Let's try up here," Link offered, pointing up the spiral stairs that Brent had noticed earlier, and in wordless agreement the group followed him up. Behind them Brent cast a concerned look at the sewer exit before he hopped up after them.

At the top they were greeted by another circular room, larger than the last, with a conical ceiling to show that it was part of a tower. There was also a single door opposite the stairs and upon spotting it, the group hastily dashed towards it.

Being the first to reach it Link peered out of the rectangular peephole and identified a long bridge on the other side, stretching to reach the castle's central building. A pair of soldiers was patrolling it and as one of them drew near Link withdrew to report his findings to the others.

After he had, Brent redirected his attention to Morbex. "How well do you think the soldiers know your brother?"

Morbex blinked his crimson eyes curiously. "Not very. Why?"

"Still, they should know about how your people are able to change their appearances, right?" Brent went on, ignoring Morbex's question. "Even if Malbex actually couldn't?"

Morbex's eyebrows puckered as his mind worked to uncover the reasoning behind the interrogation. "Yes…"

"Good. Then I need you to pretend to be Malbex."

"Excuse me?"

"Tell them you've changed your appearance for the sake of your plan," Brent continued. "We'll pretend to be your prisoners, and you demand that the soldiers take us to the princess."

"No soldier would buy that," Katrina spoke up firmly, frowning with disappointment at Brent's idea.

"Actually, I wouldn't put it past these ones," Link admitted. "They're kind of pathetic."

"Well…" Morbex looked at the door. "If Link thinks it'll work…"

With this statement of suggested commitment spoken, Link once again looked out of the peephole, then hauled the heavy door open and took a step to the side, permitting the prince to walk through first.

Accepting the offer Morbex strode through the doorway, squinting through the morning glow as he marched onto the elevated walkway. He heard the others walk out behind him, as well as the door get pulled shut but he did not turn to look, instead straightening his shoulders and walking as tall as his little body would allow.

_Scowl_, he reminded himself, his mind drawing up an image of his elder sibling. _Longer steps…know your place…_

"Hey!" The soldier that was presently marching back towards the tower darted towards the appearing group with his lance aimed forward. His partner, who was nearing the other side of the bridge, spun around at his call and sprinted towards them as well. "Civilians aren't allowed in this part of the castle!" the guard shouted, slowing to a stop in front of them as his partner approached. "You're going to have to come with us!"

Despite himself, Morbex forced his eyes to narrow indignantly. "Dare you aim a lance at me, knave?" He nearly stopped himself. Malbex's aggression just sounded silly when it came from his mouth.

But in spite of his internal beliefs the two soldiers shifted and exchanged anxious looks behind the slits of their helmets.

"I suppose I can't blame you for not recognizing me," Morbex went on coolly, working off of their hesitation as he looked down at himself. "Not like this, anyway." Strangely enough, the words tapped against a hidden pain in his own mind, one that would constantly spiral and worry around the curse his brother had cast upon him. "But you can rest assured that I am in no way a mere _civilian_."

The way he had said that last word must have sparked something in the soldiers' minds, because as soon as he said it they straightened up and withdrew their weapons.

"P-Prince Malbex?" the second soldier stuttered, almost reluctantly.

"Yes."

"Oh…!" The guard looked at his partner and they slapped their arms to their sides. "Our apologies, Your Highness! We didn't know it was you!"

"I'm aware."

"Begging your pardon, Prince Malbex," the first officer began, "but why do you look like that?"

"It was necessary," Morbex replied evenly. "But you need not concern yourselves with the reason."

The guards, at a loss for how to respond to this statement, again looked at one another before the second soldier spoke up.

"Your Highness, may I ask," he began, "why it is that you have shown up? We heard that you were withdrawing for the time being."

"Did you not hear me? I said you don't need to concern yourselves with such details," Morbex answered, shoving annoyance into his words. But in the back of his mind he couldn't help feeling as if he was either insulting the soldiers' intelligence or was just making a fool of himself. "All you need to know is that these people here" – he gestured to his allies – "are my prisoners. And I intend to bring them to the princess for a short…chat. Which is again none of your concern," he added upon noticing one of the soldiers open their mouths.

"This is actually going well," Renée muttered to Brent out of the side of her mouth.

"Quiet!" the prince threw at her.

"Yes, Your Highness." The first soldier saluted. "I will take you to the throne room for a meeting with Zelda. It, uh, has to be there, you know, as per custom, because…" But when Morbex simply stared at him, mildly uninterested, he cleared his throat. "You! Go and retrieve her!" he ordered of his partner, and with a brief salute the guard ran off to do just that.

As he left their presence, sprinting down the bridge and vanishing into the central building, the other sentry turned to the group in front of him. "Please, follow me Your Highness." He turned then, walking away to guide them into the upper levels of Hyrule Castle.

As he tromped away Morbex's shoulders slackened and he pushed out a long breath.

"Good work, Morbex," Brent said encouragingly. "But it's not over yet."

"Right…" He wondered how much longer he would have to pretend to be his brother, a strong-headed and ambitious man that always desired to get what he wanted without any questions being asked. Although he knew him so well, Morbex felt as if the man were also a complete stranger to him.

Perhaps such a thing was just a feeling that came along with pretending to be someone he was not.

Squaring his shoulders, he followed the soldier.

"I can't believe they bought that," Link overhead Katrina mumble.

They were led into a blue and gold chamber located a corridor away from the throne room. With its painted walls and arrangement of comfortable chairs and sofas, the area more than likely served as a lounge. Large paintings hung on the walls, depicting illustrations of various landscapes and members of the royal family, and a wide, curtained window granted a view of the castle grounds far below.

The soldier escorting them took his leave here, claiming that he would return when Zelda was ready to see them. Again Morbex relaxed when he left and he apologized to Renée for having snapped at her earlier.

"Don't worry about it," she said, waving a hand. "It was all part of the act. You did good, too."

"Next, we need to talk to the princess alone," Link said and lowered himself into a chair propped against the wall. Directly above him a large, framed painting of the Faron fields hung.

"Is this the princess?" At Dijonay's query Link looked up and found her standing in front of a tall painting showing a little brunette girl sitting in a cushioned chair. Her blue eyes were large and innocent in her child-like face and her small hands were clasped in the lap of her ankle-length gown.

"Looks like her," Link confirmed. "But she's a kid there. Right now she's around my age."

"Oh…" Dijonay looked on at the still-life image for a moment, trying to age the girl's features in an attempt to imagine what she must look like now. Even as she did her memory battled with her conscious thoughts, smudging the image of the little girl into the grown woman laying beside Link in her vision.

With a white fog suddenly clouding her irises Dijonay slumped against the wall, gripping her forehead as the images of her vision flashed behind the mist in her eyes.

When they faded away she sagged closer to the ground, and as the darkness of her mind cleared she found that Mekial had held her up, keeping her from toppling to the floor. She barely managed a slurred statement of gratitude as she lifted herself to her full height.

"Anything new?" he asked as she held and shook her head. Upon hearing his question, she shook her head once again.

Brent, who had taken to resting on one of the sofas, suddenly sat up, the skin on his ears prickling. Link and Katrina rose from their seats as well and figuring there was a good reason for their actions, so did Renée and Morbex.

No sooner had they done this did the door of the lounge reopen and the soldier that had escorted them inside reappeared.

"Prince Malbex, sir." He gave a slight nod upon spotting Morbex's short figure. "She'll see you now."


	80. Chapter 79

**Chapter Seventy-Nine**

Fingers laced in her lap, Zelda stared down the long chamber of the throne room, down to the high, open doorway that stood as the entrance. Flanking each side of the throne, all the way down to the base of the stairs in front of her, was a line of soldiers, each of them statue-stiff with their lances clapped against their sides. Just as was customary whenever Zelda had to give an audience to an announced visitor.

But for some reason, it was insulting.

She had been leaving the dining hall after a pleasant fruit snack when one of her guards had come to her, announcing that Prince Malbex desired her audience.

Prince Malbex.

_Of all people…_

With all of the influence he had in the castle, he could have easily approached her in the corridors if he wanted to speak to her. Unless he simply desired to mock her, pretending like the formal customs of her audience actually mattered to him.

Her eyes flitted to the soldiers lining the carpeted staircase. They were probably in on it as well.

Zelda seethed against them, and it took all of her strength to keep it from showing on her face. But when a group of figures finally stepped in front of the throne room's doorway and strode down the blue carpet that spanned the tiled floor, her mind finally found something else to focus on.

The woman's eyes darted from one face of the advancing party to another, her confusion growing. No one had told her that she would be meeting with a group of people.

As her eyes sifted through the party, searching for the face of the one that had been announced, her gaze snapped back to Link's visage. Her heart leaped to her throat and she sprang to her feet, mouth hanging open, and she hunted across the countenances of the others, hoping desperately that Link had not been captured and Malbex had arrived to gloat about it.

But she could not find Malbex's face.

At the soldier's wave the advancing crowd stopped. Excluding Link and a small, blue-skinned child in the front of the group, they were all gawking at the throne room, amazed by its dynamic proportions and towering architecture.

Zelda took this moment to observe their clothing, and quickly figured that they were not from Hyrule at all – a neighboring country at best, or perhaps even over the sea.

The longer she looked at them, the more she realized that she actually knew who they were. If memory served, these foreigners had been the very allies that she had helped deliver from the recent execution, guised as Sheik and aided by Captain Regal. But why were they here?

How had they even made it to the audience chamber?

The princess's attention descended to the silver-haired and red-eyed boy standing at the head of the group, his body slanted towards her as he stood in the center of the long carpet. Although he was a complete stranger to her there was something about his appearance that made a memory flicker in the back of her mind: of an impish, blue-skinned, face and a mischievous giggle.

The soldier that had guided the group inside moved closer to the staircase and held a hand out in front of Morbex.

Then, raising his voice so that it filled the entire hall, he addressed those in the room, "Presenting His Royal Highness, Prince Malbex!"

Zelda nearly laughed aloud.

But when the soldier's announcement echoed into silence the boy spoke up, a horridly familiar authority resounding in his demand as he eyed the soldiers threateningly, "Leave us."

And Zelda watched, all humor escaping her, as the soldiers faced the exit and filed out of the hall.

Now left alone in the enormous chamber, defenseless against the man that had nearly torn everything she knew apart Zelda took a retreating step, and the words of General Ison rang clear in her head:

_"He intends to extract the Triforce of Wisdom from your body, Princess."_

Zelda's eyes leaped to Link and the color drained from her face.

This was it then.

He had gathered them together here, and now he was going to do it – he was going to take the relic right out of her, and out of Link too.

_It would be like dying._

Zelda took another step back, hugging herself as shivers raced across her body. The foreign people with him were probably more of his accomplices, disguised as familiar faces. And they would help him. They would help him tear her apart. Just like he did to her country –

A sigh of relief broke through her harried thoughts and her mind completely scattered. Scrambling to piece it back together the princess's watery eyes plunged to the face of the blue-skinned child to find that his once haughty stance had loosened.

"Good work, Morbex." Zelda's eyes bounced to find the owner of the next voice and pinpointed him as the tallest one. Pointy-eared and tan-skinned, his copper eyes moved to the sighing child beneath a sky blue fringe.

"Man, this place is amazing!" exclaimed another one of the group members. Zelda found her: a mid-sized, athletic looking girl with dark hair tied into a bun and an excited gleam in her brown gaze.

"I'll say," breathed another girl, whose long, brown bangs nearly hid her jade eyes from view.

"It is indeed, majestic," observed yet another, whose short mahogany hair framed her light brown face.

Dijonay was her name, Zelda instantly recalled, and she watched as the girl's large eyes shifted to the massive statue of the three goddesses above the throne, and then dropped down to the princess. All at once a strange sense of déjà vu overcame her, as though she had met the noble somewhere before.

"I…remember you," the princess began, her words coming out slowly as she reexamined their faces.

Brent blinked, unsure how to react. "Um. You do?"

"Yes." Zelda nodded her head, the haze of her fears dissolving into a cloud of clarity. "Though, you knew me by a different name."

While Brent continued to look utterly confused, Dijonay's eyes lit with remembrance. "You… You are Sheik!" she cried and Zelda sent her a pleasant smile.

Brent whirled to face the girl. "How'd you know that?"

"I just…" Dijonay lowered her eyes thoughtfully. "There was something familiar about her. I suppose I noticed it more because Mekial and I were around Sheik more than the rest of you. Surely you noticed the similarity, Mekial?" She faced the mage.

"I thought there was something about her," he admitted, scratching his cheek. "But I wasn't really sure."

Dijonay spiraled to reface the princess. "Well, I am very, very grateful that you are all right, Sheik – I-I mean, Your Highness." She curtsied and even though she was only acquainted with her, Zelda knew that the act was genuine.

"Then it all makes sense…" Link mused from the back of the group, his eyes drifting to the side. "That's why you disappeared from the castle."

At the announcement Morbex felt something rise from his chest. His brother had not been involved in the princess' sudden absence after all.

"The only one I do not recognize," Zelda added, her attention falling to Morbex, "is you. You…are not Malbex."

"No, I'm not." Morbex's entire body stiffened. "…I'm his brother."

As expected the princess's eyes widened and she searched the boy's face, hunting for a sign that could show he was merely being deceptive. But no such hint existed.

It was at that moment Link stepped in and took it upon himself to lay at her feet the details of the true issues that Hyrule was currently facing. Starting with Morbex's tale he left nothing unaccounted for, thus ensuring that he included the Great Deku Tree's demands and the mode of transportation they had gained when their quest had led them to Snowpeak.

He ended with the fact that they needed her to accompany them to the Deku Tree so that he could grant them the final shard of Power, and after that they could return her to the castle and take the Triforce of Power, in its entirety, to the Sages in the desert.

Zelda had reseated herself in the throne during Link's report and when he concluded her eyes glazed over in thought. Wordlessly her mind filtered through his tale, reviewing the details until she finally raised her attention back to them, and declared her gratitude for his report.

Then to their satisfaction, she stated that she would journey with them to the southern province of Hyrule in order to obtain the final shard of Power.

"I, too, desire to speak with the sages," she claimed. "There are some issues that I need to ask them about. However once we are finished, I will need to return to the castle immediately; tensions here are high, and so it would be unwise if I should be gone for too long."

"Of course, Princess," Link consented. "We'll return you here as soon as we're done."

"Then, allow me to make preparations," she concluded, rising from her throne. "Based on the events that had occurred upon your arrival, I am left to presume that this young man, Prince Morbex" – she looked at the Fenri – "has deceived the soldiers into thinking that he is his brother."

"Yeah," Brent replied, drawing her eyes. "That's…my fault, actually. We didn't have any other safe way of getting to you."

Zelda tipped her chin to him. "I understand. Though, I must admit that you gave me a bit of a surprise."

The corner of Brent's lips twitched with a remorseful smile. "Sorry. Your Highness," he threw in quickly.

"It is fine," Zelda's calm tone announced the honesty of her words. "In fact, I suggest that you use that same method to get to the castle foyer and wait for me there. I will be with you shortly."

Thus Morbex reclaimed the role of his elder sibling, and the group made it down to the cavernous entrance hall without trouble. As the glittering chandeliers hung high overhead, they dispersed to examine different sections of the room as they waited for the princess's arrival.

"Dijonay, are you all right?" Renée approached her old friend, who had tucked herself into a corner almost as soon as they had entered the hall. With a hand pressed to her forehead and another hugging her stomach, the girl looked close to ill. "You don't look very good."

"It is…a strange feeling," she muttered. "I…I think that I just did not sleep very well last night."

"You're sure it's just that?" Renée eyed her suspiciously. "You were fine a minute ago."

"Then perhaps…it is…" A moan clipped her words and though her eyes were half-lidded, Renée could still perceive a white mist curling over the girl's irises. When it drifted away the prime minister swooned and Renée caught her.

She pushed the girl to her feet. "So that's it."

"It is…always the same…" Dijonay steadied herself against the wall. "I cannot…make any sense of it…"

"Do you want to rest somewhere before we take off? You look like you need it."

"N-no…" Dijonay shook her head, the ache in her skull lessening to a distant throb. "I will be fine. I do not wish to hinder this – after all, we are almost finished. And then…we can return home."

Though the idea was indeed heart-warming, Renée could not shake her worry for the young noble. Still, she gave her a half-hearted, "yeah" in response.

"How long do you think it takes for a princess to get ready?" Brent asked, observing the small figure of a goddess that had been carved out of the staircase railing.

"Long enough," Katrina answered listlessly, sitting on the stairs with her elbows on her thighs.

"Considering the fact that she's temporarily leaving the castle," Morbex spoke up, "she has to place a steward on the throne in her place. Though," he took on a distressed look, "with all of the soldiers and servants being as disloyal as they are, finding such a person may be a bit difficult."

"A steward?" Link echoed quizzically.

"Think of them as second-in-command," Morbex explained, turning to him. "They handle the affairs within the castle and country while the true ruler is away somewhere."

"So they're almost like an Advising Monitor for the Prime Minister," Brent figured.

Mekial, who was also in their midst, nodded. "Sounds like it. Come to think of it I wonder how Mattatheus is doing in the Arkanian District…"

Brent tensed at the utterance of Dijonay's right-hand and recalled that he was every bit her opposite when it came to handling the Hylian Rights Groups. Whereas she was more lenient and hesitant when it came to decisions that had to do with them, Mattatheus was assertive and aggressive.

Truthfully Brent would not be at all surprised if, when they returned to Arkania, the twenty-six divisions of the Hylian Rights Groups were struggling to stay out of harm's way.

"Hey, Mek." He diverted his eyes from the carved goddess to look at the mage. "Do you think Dijonay'll be able to undo anything Mattatheus might do to the Hylian Rights Groups?"

"Well, since her position's higher than his, I'd say she could," the boy started, "but when it comes to issues and humanitarian groups like yours, I kinda stop paying attention at the meetings."

Brent looked away with a faint scoff. He should have known better than to ask a twelve-year-old about politics.

But still the boy's answer worried him. How was Taranis faring, he wondered? Was Lemm handling everything all right? Were they lying low, so as to preserve their safety? Or were they still going about the nearest towns, rescuing Hylians?

There was no way for him to find out now and so, with great effort, he forced his concerns to the back of his mind. No sooner had he done this did a door open on the balcony of the upper level and the princess appeared, garbed in a light traveling cloak that swished by her heels.

"I apologize for the wait," she said as she descended towards them, and as she spoke Renée and Dijonay rejoined the group. "I have arranged for a carriage to take us outside of the capital. As far as the soldiers are concerned I am in the company of Prince Malbex. Yet, I fear that should we not hurry, the true Malbex will arrive at the castle and our plans will be exposed."

"Then, we're off," Renée said, voicing the desires of the others, and they departed the lobby and stepped out onto the front threshold.

As Zelda had informed them a horse-drawn carriage was indeed waiting for them and, after Link helped her into it first, he and the others piled inside. When the door clicked shut the servant in front of the vehicle whipped the horses and they trotted forward with a toss of their glossy manes. The front gates were opened as they approached and they rode through, leaving the castle behind as they rolled into the bustling capital.


	81. Chapter 80

**Chapter Eighty**

It was a smooth transition from Castletown to the southern gates, and from there an easy ride down to the fields of Faron Province. When they had drawn near to the hill that the argorok was nestled upon Link requested that they stop and, at Zelda's command, the carriage indeed stopped.

They clambered out of the vehicle and when outside Zelda informed the soldier that she would return to the castle by other means. He in turn gave a response of acknowledgement and veering the horses around, he made his way back to the castle.

As he wheeled away Link took the lead of the group, returning to where he remembered they had left their own mode of transportation. At the crown of the hill he led them to he helped Zelda to the top, then turned back to hoist Dijonay, Renée and Katrina up as well. As he did so the princess froze behind him, her eyes falling upon the majestic creature that lay slumbering before her.

Anxiously she took an advancing step and as if it had heard her, the argorok stirred in its sleep, blinking its two-lidded eyes as its ears flicked up. With a faint huff that spewed from its nostrils it turned a pair of bright yellow eyes to her, and examined her unfamiliar appearance interestedly. Fearing the worst, the princess went perfectly still.

It only continued to study her, silently and unblinkingly, until finally it shifted to raise its horned head. Devoured by its black shadow the princess shrank back, heart pounding as the dragon's neck extended to let its head scrape against the sky. Her lips parted with the first part of a soft gasp, which was quickly cut short when a hand fell on her shoulder.

Turning to find its owner, she found herself meeting Link's eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile before he approached the massive creature and Zelda watched, awestruck, as it did nothing to him. It did not even react when the others drew near to it.

She became even more amazed when Morbex went right in front of it and raised a hand toward its head.

It in turn lowered its snout to his fingers and Zelda's pointy ears picked out strange words issuing from the prince's mouth. Though she did not at all know what he was saying, a sense of familiarity washed over her.

"Princess?" She started when Morbex reverted to their language and called out to her, stealing her from her thoughts. "The argorok isn't very used to carrying this many people on his back," he began to inform her when her gaze fell to him, "but the Deku Tree isn't far from here. It should be safe."

Zelda looked from him to the beast, and finally forced out her voice. "I… Y-Yes. Yes, of course…"

Bracing herself she strode to the dragon's side, eyeing its jagged scales worriedly. A hand fell in front of her and she looked up, finding that the one offering it was Brent. Grateful for his aid she grasped it and he hauled her onto the dragon's spine.

"Hold tight, Princess," he instructed as he helped her climb to the spike in front of him.

"You know, this thing fainted yesterday," Katrina said flatly from in front of the noble.

Zelda's throat tightened.

"Fell right outta the sky," Katrina went on. "Dragons aren't as tough as you think, you know."

"Hey, Katrina," Brent frowned. "Quit trying to scare her."

The Corvenian simply shrugged and looked away. "Just warning her."

"Don't worry about her," Brent told the Hylian princess. "She just has a knack for being blunt."

"So it really fainted?" Zelda looked at Brent over her shoulder, the panic clear in her eyes.

He hesitated. "Well –"

But before he could continue Morbex patted the argorok's neck and its wings shot out, nearly covering the entire hill. Zelda choked on a gasp, then let a scream run freely out of her mouth when the beast beat its wings and launched into the sky.

Knowing her stomach had been left far behind Zelda clung desperately to the pointed bone protruding from the dragon's spine. With her eyes pressed shut she held her breath, too afraid to even take a sweeping look at her surroundings.

But when the argorok's body finally flattened out, its wings expanded to let it hover across the skyline she opened one eye, then the other, and emitted a soft breath of wonder.

Though it was indeed much colder up here than it was on the ground, such a thing could not deter her attention from the wide expanse of blue that encircled her. Distant clouds took on the forms of thin white sheets and beyond them the sun beamed gloriously, casting the dragon's shadow across the heavens as they glided over the fields of Faron far below.

Terror left her, making room for admiration and a renewed appreciation for the world's beauty. A little smile trickled across her face and she let her eyes shift to the argorok's wings, watching as they rose and fell to a steady rhythm. She brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and for the first time in months, found solace.

Link peeked over the dragon's shoulder a couple of minutes later and called out that they needed to land. After Morbex signaled the creature the argorok did so, dipping into a steep dive that whisked Zelda's stomach away almost as soon as she had found it. Pressing her face against the spike that she hugged she scrunched her eyes, wind roaring in her ears and cold air lashing at her face, until with a loud rustle of leaves and the snapping of branches, the dragon plunged through the canopy of a forest.

Its barbed tail swung down into woods last, banging against a tree trunk and the argorok tucked in its wings, clawing through the clearings and slinking around hills and the edges of overlooks.

Startled by its actions Morbex patted the lizard's neck, calling for it to stop so that they could dismount and thus travel on foot. But the argorok ignored him, nostrils flaring as it huffed and snorted its way through the woods.

Within moments they came upon the foggy abyss that blocked the way to the woods that lead to the eroded Temple of Time. Alarmed by the speed at which they were approaching the gap Morbex thumped his hands against the dragon once again, demanding that it brake to a full stop.

But as before, the monster did not listen.

He barely managed to holler a warning to the others before the dragon half-skidded, half-leaped into the abyss, sinking straight through the heavy mists and crashing through the awning of the ancient woods below.

But even here the dragon did not cease, climbing and scraping its way through the forest in pursuit of a peculiar smell that its nose had caught upon arriving in Faron Woods. Heads bowed the travelers held fast to the beast's back, grunting as branches and leaves rained upon them and they released startled shouts when the dragon came to an abrupt halt.

Link raised his head to find where the argorok had taken them, and soon identified it as the clearing where the Great Deku Tree was located. But when he looked up to see the ancient plant's face, his mouth fell in overt horror.

For instead of a tree a charred mass of wood met his eyes, scarred down to its roots that curled out of the earth. Long black scorch marks were drawn across the plant's old face, mutilating and distorting its features so that what was left was just barely recognizable.

Link slid off the dragon's back and stumbled into the section that harbored the lifeless form. Upon reaching one of its roots he reached out and brushed his fingers against it, leaving singed, blackened bits of wood clinging to his fingertips.

Dijonay lowered herself from the argorok's side, her heart drumming and eyebrows wrinkling her forehead fearfully. Everyone else dismounted as well.

"What is this?" Zelda inquired, her eyes narrowed as she drew to the edge of the depression the Deku Tree was planted in. "It is the only tree that has been burned –" She cut herself short, her eyes darting up to the trees when a soft yet shaky wail rattled its way into her ears.

Her gaze jumped about to find the source of the sound and soon she located a tiny creature dangling from a branch that had been split by the claws on one of the argorok's wings. The princess failed at identifying it, as its strangely shaped body gave the impression that it was the knot of a tree trunk that had fallen off. There was a little green leaf pasted to the upper half of its body and judging by the black markings drawn across it, this was its face.

She moved back a bit when the little thing lost its grip and toppled from the treetops to land in front of her. With a high-pitched moan it rubbed the tip of its supposed head and then, squealing, it hopped onto to its stubby feet.

"Ah!" It tried to shrink away, hiding behind one of its twiggy arms. "P-please don't hurt me!"

Katrina came up beside the princess to look at the squeaking forest dweller, and at her arrival it cried louder. And when the Corvenian bent down towards it, her face blank, its scream rose in pitch.

Link, puzzled by the incessant screeching, turned from his observation of the Deku Tree to see Katrina standing with her arms extended and the crying Korok in her hands. He climbed towards them.

"Please don't burn the rest of the forest!" the Korok was begging by the time he and the others had crowded around it. "Please! It's our only home!"

"The rest of it?" Mekial echoed, knitting his brow.

"We're not going to hurt you," Link assured the little Korok, and it twisted to look at him, practically panting with fright.

"You…you're not?" It stared at him for a moment and Katrina felt it relax in her grasp. "But…but you brought a dragon…!"

"Yes, that may have come as a surprise," Morbex put in. "But we mean no harm to this place. It got carried away while it was taking us here." The dragon snorted. "We came to talk to the Great Deku Tree. Do you know what happened to it?"

The Korok directed its focus to the cursed noble, as if it were unsure if it should respond. But instead of its voice rising to answer, a different one did:

"He was attacked."

The heads of the traveling company turned simultaneously, peering into the leafage that bordered the trail. There, hiding amongst the bushes they perceived a short being – but unlike the Korok, it was a human child.

Blonde-haired and green eyed, she was partly obscured behind a tree trunk. Her eyes were hard as she glared at the intruders, as if she were bracing herself for something, and then her stare fell to the Korok that Katrina was holding. She held its black, distorted eyes for a moment, and then pulled herself out of the leafage.

Dijonay's gasp was the loudest.

The child's body was grotesque, stuck in the half-finished conversion of tree bark to human flesh. Though her entire face was normal the rough texture of wood circled one side of her neck and stretched to cover her left arm and leg. Her rich green tunic could still clothe her, but with it being sleeveless and barely making it halfway down her thighs, it could do little to hide the branch that was her leg or the twigs that substituted for her fingers.

Mekial's jaw hung loosely as the girl climbed out of the bushes and placed her bare, human foot onto the trail before planting her root-like toes beside it. After this she raised her eyes to him, undaunted by the disturbance that showed so plainly on his face. He couldn't even bring himself to hide it.

Zelda also looked blatantly surprised, her mouth open slightly as her eyebrows went up. More than likely was this child one of the Kokiri, children that were said to live in Hyrule's southern forests and whose bodies never aged beyond ten years old. What the princess could not wrap her mind around however was a reason as to why this particular Kokiri looked like she was part plant.

In fact she found it even more amazing that the child even existed at all. Until this very moment, Zelda had believed that all of the Kokiri had been wiped out in the Great Flood.

"…Humans don't come here often," the child stated coldly, her eyes panning across the travelers' faces. "Especially not adults."

Still overwhelmed by the child's appearance, Katrina barely noticed the Korok leap out of her hands and scramble to hide behind the girl's human leg. Quivering, it leaned out a little to peek up at the outsiders.

"What are you doing here?" the girl demanded, inching back to the brambles that she had crawled from. "Are you here to destroy the rest of the forest, too?"

"We mean you no harm," Zelda spoke up calmly, once again gaining the child's attention. "We merely came to have a word with the Great Deku Tree."

"Well, he's not here anymore," the girl snapped, her eyes flashing with a painful blend of anger and sadness. "So you can just get out!"

"Can you at least tell us what happened to him?" Morbex piped up next, stepping forth. The forest dweller only glared at him, her lips pressed together as her eyes watered.

Finally, she relented. "Someone attacked him," she said. "He _burned_ him." The tiny leaves on her mutated arm bristled as her arms shook with fury. "He burned him like the Deku Tree was nothing…!"

"Who burned him?" Morbex urged gently as the girl warred against her tears.

"I don't know." She sniffed. "But he looked like you all. And he came out of nowhere."

At this Zelda once again took a stand. "Could you see what he looked like?"

"I didn't get a good look because of all the smoke," the girl told her. "But he shot blue fire right out of his hand. And his hair was white."

Morbex did not need any more information. His red eyes fell away, shimmering with a mixture of disappointment and rage.

"Did you see him do anything else?" Link went on, Morbex's same assumption solidifying in his own mind.

"It looked like he pulled something out of the Great Deku Tree from where he was standing. I didn't see what it was," she added when Link opened his mouth again. "There was so much smoke…" her eyes began to glisten and she quickly looked away, "and fire…" She blinked and started to smear away the water building in her eyes.

Zelda cast a melancholic look over at the Deku Tree before returning her attention to the girl, and all at once the princess could understand her. She herself could remember the day her own parents had died; the gaping hole they had left behind had been unbearable. She parted her lips to console the girl.

"Mary…" the Korok squeaked before Zelda could even emit a sound, and after lowering her hands from her face the girl scooped him into her arms. She cradled him for a moment, taking comfort in the family that she still had, and then she dodged into the bushes and vanished from sight.


	82. Chapter 81

**Chapter Eighty-One**

"We'll have to go into the desert," Link told the others as they sailed through the skies once more. "We still have almost all of the shards of Power; if we can give them to the Sages, Malbex won't be able to do anything with the shard he took from the Deku Tree."

"Oh, the gloriously hot desert," Renée said with false cheer. "I can't wait to get sunburn…"

"Plus a bust tan," Brent called, though his tone was lighter as if he were teasing her on some past event. She sent him a quick glower.

Zelda ignored their words, her mind having drifted back to the blackened remains of the Great Deku Tree. She had seen pictures of the creature's majesty in Hylian textbooks and documents, with their aged, humanoid faces and daunting sizes. They were one of the goddesses most sacred creations, bearing the knowledge of multiple generations that they were only meant to pass down to any who spoke to them.

She couldn't blot the image out of her mind, nor could she erase the small sense of hopelessness that began to fester in her heart. The Deku Tree had looked so disfigured that it would be a miracle if any of its seeds had survived the attack.

And there was no telling if there were any other Deku Trees that still existed in the world. It was frightening to think that as a result of Malbex's deed, the species of the Deku Tree had been permanently extinguished. Her arms tightened around the argorok's spike.

Morbex's eyes narrowed against the cold winds. How much more would it be before Malbex was finally satisfied? When would he finally realize how far he had gone?

Morbex could still remember the feeling that had coursed through him when he had first spoken to his brother after his plan had been revealed.

It had been hope.

And even all the times he had spoken to Malbex after that there had been a hope inside of him, one that believed that perhaps there was still a bit of sanity lingering in Malbex's mind; that perhaps as his only brother, Morbex could tap into it and lead Malbex out of the darkness he had drowned himself in; that maybe, just maybe, there was still a chance for his brother to finally repent from all of the destruction he had caused.

But now it was finally, yet slowly beginning to seep into Morbex's head: that it was too late to save his brother from himself.

It was too late to spare him any hope.

The argorok's weariness soon became apparent to Morbex and he turned to inform Link that they would need to stop somewhere soon. Though reluctant, Link agreed and after scanning the fields below, told the young prince that they could bank near the shores of Lake Hylia.

After making note of its location himself, Morbex gave the argorok its instructions and with a graceful swoop, the dragon soared towards the beauteous body of water.

They banked on the side of the lake opposite the Gerudo Mesa, out of sight of the island cabin owned by a man named Fyer, who ran one of Lake Hylia's attractions. Mekial was the one to ask what the attraction was.

"He uses a huge cannon in his house to shoot people up to the bridge, or into the desert," Link answered, and the child found himself wondering how else Hyruleans could describe the word "attractions".

Morbex suggested that with all the work that the argorok had done over the course of the morning, it would need around an hour or an hour and a half to relax his tired spine. Taking this to heart the others decided to spend the time relaxing and unwinding themselves, gaining the chance to ease the tension in their own bodies before they had to move on.

After catching a couple of salmon from the lake for Dijonay and Katrina to roast for lunch, Mekial kicked off his boots, rolled up his pant legs and journeyed near to the sandy shore of the lake, his mind set on creating a sand castle.

"I've never been to the beach to do something like this by hand before," he said to Morbex when the prince had asked what he was doing. "So, while lunch is getting ready, I figured, why not?" And he set to work, utilizing the thickness of the wet sand as he built his sand castle - but it turned out more like a hill since he lacked the proper building tools.

A few feet behind him, ankle-deep in the lake were Brent and Renée, the latter of which had seen Brent skipping stones and had asked him to teach her.

Zelda took to sitting on the edge of a smooth, flat boulder near the argorok's tail, her cloak pulled tightly around her and her eyes staring at the far-off outline of the desert. Upon hearing a pair of approaching feet crunching through the pebbled soil, the princess' eyes flicked to see who was coming.

"Oh, Link."

"Princess." He nodded to the space beside her. "Is it all right if I sit here?"

"Yes." Zelda scooted over a little, permitting him to take the seat he had indicated. As he settled in she redirected her eyes to the desert, falling out of the present to linger in her thoughts once more. But when Link called out to her, requesting permission to ask her a question, she looked over at him.

With his eyes fixed on the same location as her eyes had once been, he started to speak, "What do you think of the Triforce?"

Zelda paused. "I believe it to be an object of great power," she replied, "one that is both difficult to contain and yet difficult to resist. I suppose that is why it has been so desperately hunted for over the course of our country's history."

"But do you see it as…a good thing?" Link finally looked at her, the sun's afternoon light catching the authentic confusion in his blue eyes. "I never really thought much of the Triforce until last year, when the Twilight Incident happened. Next thing I know, I'm caught up in all of _this_." He looked away, leaning over his knees and holding his hands together. "When a piece of the reason for all of Hyrule's troubles is living inside of me, how can I look at it as a good thing?"

Zelda did not respond for a moment, finally understanding what it meant for the young hero to be born and raised in a Province such as Ordona, without having any fears of the world or of the malevolent people within it. For the first time, she saw Link as the simple shepherd he had once been and could only imagine what it must have felt like to be suddenly thrust into the world.

"…We can never understand the reasons for why certain things happen in our lives," she said slowly, dropping her eyes from Link. "And we cannot fathom why the Triforce picked us rather than someone else, someone that we may have believed to be more worthy of it than we are. Yet, we must live with it.

"I told you once before that the Triforce in itself is not divine." She lifted her gaze to the glistening lake waters, watching as ripples formed across its surface from the stones that Brent skipped. "It is not good. But it is not evil, either. It is instead defined by the hand that holds it."

She returned her eyes to Link's profile. "You are a good person, Link. I can only say that this is one of the reasons that Courage selected you, to live with you and protect you as you were meant to protect it from those who lust for it. The world is and always has been a greedy place…and it is true that the Triforce's existence does not help that. But if the Triforce did not exist, the world would want for something else. But, that would not make that 'something else' good or bad either."

Link closed his eyes and smiled softly. "I can see why you have the Triforce of Wisdom," he said, turning his eyes to her face. She returned his smile. "Thank you, Princess. I think I understand it more now."

His eyes moved away and caught onto the forms of Renée and Brent just as Renée took a stone and attempted to fling it at the water. But something went wrong with her throw and the rock spun off to her left, spiraling right into Brent's groin.

With a cry of pain Brent dropped to his knees, hunching over the water while grabbing the source of his agony.

"I'm so sorry, Brent!" Renée shouted, throwing her arms around him, but she could not subdue her laughter. "I didn't mean it!"

Brent only groaned. "It was still spinning when it hit," he mumbled. "I think it got me twice…!"

Renée failed at holding in her next giggle. "It's like two birds with one stone, huh?"

"Augh!" Brent shot up and Renée released him, her shoulders shaking with peals of laughter. "I'm done!" He started hobbling back to shore, which only made Renée laugh harder. "You're staying at least ten feet away from me!"

From their location near Mekial's mud mountain, Morbex and the mage cringed.

"That looked painful," Mekial said but when Brent waddled instead of walked by he couldn't help but snigger. Only when he felt cold water lashing at his back did he drop his attention to his sand hill and release a cry of horror. "No! My mountain!" He tried to shield it from the lapping water with his body, and mentally grumbled against the lake's unnecessary attack. Why did the best sand have to be so close to it?

"No!" he wailed, rounding on the lake and waving his arms, forcing the tide back. But it sprang forward again, washing into his mud pile and proceeding to break it apart. But Mekial kept fighting, shouting in denial and forcing the water back. But despite all of his efforts the little hill soon crumbled away and he was left crouching in front of its remains with his head bowed in defeat.

"It was a nice mountain," Morbex said, chuckling at Mekial's previous, futile efforts.

"My pride and joy," Mekial sighed, and he pretended to sob.

"You have a very…colorful group of companions," Zelda observed. Link nodded with a faint smile. "How…did you meet them?" Link looked at the princess, noting the curiosity in her tone as well as in her big, navy eyes.

"Back when I went to get Telma and the others," he said. "I didn't want them to come at first, because I didn't want them to get caught up in all of this. But, looking back, I don't regret their coming." He sat back, leaning his weight on his arms. "I mean, I'm used to working alone but they've been good allies. There are some points during our quest that I don't even think I would have lived through without their help."

Zelda seemed surprised by this and she shifted her focus to the foreigners, looking from Mekial and Morbex attempting to rebuild his hill, to Renée who had taken to teasing Brent, and finally to Katrina and Dijonay who were finishing with the meal preparations. Her eyebrows arched sadly.

"…You are very blessed to have them, then," she said, and her gaze lifted to resettle on the rippling waters of Lake Hylia. "Even with things being as hectic as they are…I cannot say the same of myself."

Link fell silent beside her, his eyes falling with a frown.

Then he got to his feet.

Zelda did not look up at him until he refaced her with one hand offered. When he spoke his voice was firm, and his words nearly made her heart stop. "You have me."

Her eyes flashed and she looked down at his hand before letting her attention dart back to his face. Link felt a gentle heat grow in his cheeks. Was he being rude?

"Hyrule is my home, too," he went on, his face growing a tad bit warmer. "And I have every intention of keeping Malbex from getting what he wants. So, Princess," his eyes held hers empathetically, "don't think that you need to do this all alone. Like I did."

Zelda continued to stare at him, her mouth slightly open at his gracious offer. Then her heart, once calloused by the solitude that she had been forced into began to grow warm and her hardened exterior disintegrated, giving way to a wordless appreciation that shimmered in her eyes. So this was Link, wielder of the Triforce of Courage.

This was Hyrule's hero.

Her hand slid into his.

"You can't freeze water?" Morbex repeated, his tone bewildered.

"I can't figure it out," Mekial confessed, leaning back to observe his second hill. "I can do pretty much anything else with it, but…" He broke off with a frustrated sigh.

"…Look at this." Morbex cupped his hands together and filled them with lake water. Thin streams managed to slip through the cracks in his fingers, but he paid them no mind.

He whispered the words of an incantation that Mekial could roughly translate and the liquid in his hands began to solidify, hardening into a little piece of ice that was so cold they could see the vapor coiling off of it.

"_Whoa!_" Mekial pointed at the ice, looking so astonished that it was comical. Morbex couldn't help but laugh. "How did you –?!"

"The spell for freezing water starts out the same as when you do anything else with water," the young prince began to explain, giving Mekial the frozen liquid. His head gave a little throb and his vision blurred, but he shook the feeling away. "Then after that you have to cool the energy that's actually coming out of you before you start the next part of the verse, otherwise the water will remain liquefied."

"It sounds so easy," Mekial mused, eyeing the ice in his hand from every angle. "Can you show me how?"

"Well, I can help you along," Morbex said truthfully, his eyes still a little foggy, "but if I actually tried it again…"

"Oh, right…" Mekial placed the ice cube on the ground and cupping his hands as Morbex had done, he scooped lake water into his palms, brow furrowed with concentration as he followed Morbex's instructions.

A split second later the water exploded into his face.

Morbex hopped back while Mekial simply sat there, his eyes closed in a serene way with his lips and jaw clenched as the water slowly dripped from his brow.

"You'll get it," Morbex offered.

Dijonay looked over at Katrina after taking the final salmon and digging the end of its stick into the dirt beside the other fish. In all truth, out of all the Hylians in the party Katrina was the one who made her feel the most uncomfortable. Perhaps it was her steadfast scowl or guarded expressions that bothered her.

Either way Dijonay was not sure, but knew that because of it she had made a habit out of trying not to be alone with the Corvenian. Even now she felt a pang of discomfort at the fact that the two of them had been nominated to work together and prepare the lunchtime meal.

"We don't have any seasonings," Katrina grumbled, her hands sifting through one of the sackcloth bags beside her. Dijonay looked from the pouch and back to her.

"Did we leave everything on Link's horse?"

"Probably." Katrina pulled out a few leaves from the bag and glared at them. "Are these spinach leaves?"

"Um, no." Dijonay studied them shortly. "I believe they are basil leaves."

With a grunt of dissatisfaction, Katrina tossed them over her shoulder.

"No!" Dijonay lunged and snatched the pivoting items out of the air. "We can use these!"

"With what?" Katrina's voice was sour.

"With the salmon!" Dijonay protested, offended by Katrina's demeanor. "We just need to crush it up a little…" She held one of the leaves out to her, abruptly faltering beneath the blank stare that the Corvenian gave it. "P-please, just rip it up a little. And then spread it on the surface of some of the fish."

Katrina eyed the basil darkly for another second, then pulled it out of the girl's hand and proceeded to tear it apart. Dijonay watched her for a moment and then moved to rip up the remaining leaves, wondering in the back of her mind if Katrina actually had some kind of grudge against basil.

"Brent, I did it!" Renée spun around, fists pumped and her eyes darting about until she found Brent located at the shoreline. He glanced up in time to see the dying ripples of the stone she had just thrown.

"Great," he called, flinging his own rock so that it skipped four times. "Keep throwing them in that direction."

"Aw, c'mon, Brent, you don't need to look so glum!" Renée waded through the water, crossing the undersea boulder she was on top of until she came near to the lake's edge. "I didn't hit you that hard, did I?"

"Yeah, you kind of did." Brent threw his last rock.

"I'm sorry." Renée looked genuinely serious this time.

He smirked. "Hey, just as long as you stay ten feet away, everything's okay."

"Okay!" Renée marched through the pebbled and wet soil in his direction, grinning impishly.

"Hey, I said ten feet!" he shouted, hopping back a step. She stopped, then made another advancing motion and Brent pointed at her. "_No._" She moved forward again. "Ren – _ah!_" He staggered to keep his balance after he nearly tripped over a large rock behind him.

Renée laughed, amused by her success at bothering her friend, and her eyes shifted at the sight of movement near the argorok. There Link and Zelda were walking, with Link making slight gestures as he explained something to the princess who was listening with a soft smile.

Renée chuckled, and it took her all of her strength to keep from teasing Link from where she stood.

Brent didn't think the same.

"Okay, Link!" he hooted, instantly pulling Link and Zelda's eyes over to him. "I see you!"

Link only stared at him, unable to comprehend the Arkanian joke and Renée bent down to splash some water up at Brent's face. He in turn ducked behind his arms with a laugh and stepped back, only to trip over the rock he had previously avoided. Renée snickered.

After Mekial's fifth failure at freezing water he joined Dijonay, and at her order he quickly roasted the basil-seasoned salmon. Once they had been thoroughly cooked Dijonay announced that the meal was ready.

Lunch was anything but comfortable for Zelda, as she had never eaten fresh fish off of a stick before. Morbex and Dijonay herself did not seem all too fond of the concept either but managed it somehow, whilst Zelda worked strenuously to ensure that she did not come across as a slob. Her efforts worked, but could not save the bits of fish that managed to fall off the stick and into her lap.

She did not finish her salmon either, not so much because of how she had to eat it but more so because she simply could not swallow the rest of it: it was dry and poorly seasoned.

Noticing the reluctant look she was giving her food Link held his hand out for it. She in turn gave it to him and with a light movement he tossed it to the argorok, who slurped it up and spat out the stick.

When everyone else had finished eating they prepared to depart, climbing onto the argorok's spine as they mentally readied themselves for the scorching heat of the desert.

Dijonay's head spun as she crawled onto the dragon's back and her eyes fogged up again, leaving her to slump back down to the ground. Before she could fall all the way Renée grabbed her, gripping one of the argorok's spikes as she worked to haul the girl up.

After checking that everyone was on board, Morbex instructed for the argorok to take off. One flap of its wings blasted it skyward and as its altitude increased it zoomed forward, zipping towards the western, arid mesa.

Heat barreled down on them upon arrival, barely yielding to the steady breeze that whisked into them during their flight. Peering over the argorok's side revealed endless hills of rolling sand while a number of miles ahead of them a cylindrical building could be seen, poking out over a small group of rocky mountains. Its details were hard to pick out but Link recognized it and told the others that it was the Arbiter's Grounds, where the Sages were located. Even as she looked at it Dijonay's head swam and she clutched her skull, willing the pain away.

Link later informed them that due to the size of the chamber where the Sages were, it was unlikely the argorok would be able to fit within. As such, they would have to leave it in front of the Arbiter's Grounds' entrance and head up to the Sages on foot.

Morbex followed Link's directions towards the base of the staircase that led up to the coliseum-like structure. Once landing they climbed off the argorok's back and as soon as it was free from cargo, the creature slinked towards a shady area cast by the shadow of one of the encircling mountains.

"The entrance is up here," Link informed everyone, and he started up the worn, sand-crusted stairs that climbed towards the entrance of the abandoned building.

"There's something creepy about this place," Katrina observed as she eyed the entire area, from the eroded pillars that stood beside the rising staircase to the tall, cylindrical shape of the building. "I don't like it."

"Scared, Katrina?" Mekial teased, and she in turn gave him a plain, sidelong glance.

"…I'm serious."

"I heard that this place was once a prison," Link called from the front of the group as he reached the top of the stairs. "A lot of the prisoners here were banished to another dimension for their crimes."

"Another dimension?" Katrina echoed, quirking her brow skeptically.

"There was a gate here once," Zelda explained as she came up beside her. "It was used to banish Hyrule's most terrible criminals from this world, and was said to send them directly to the next."

"Are there any here now?" Dijonay piped up worriedly. "Prisoners, I mean?"

"No." Zelda's eyes turned to the young ruler. "This place was abandoned by my father the king during his reign. Now, criminals are trialed and either imprisoned in the castle dungeons or executed, just as they are in any other country."

"Oh…"

"The inside is worn pretty badly," Link warned, his eyes revolving to face the downward stairs that disappeared into the darkness of the building. "There are a lot of sandpits and plenty of quicksand, so be careful." And with that said he walked within, marching into the familiar quiet of the Arbiter's Grounds with nothing but the clopping of his boots and the descending footsteps of the others filling his ears.

Soon this lonely sound was accompanied by the faint crackling of torches, whose flames became apparent as the group left the bottom of the staircase and journeyed through the first corridor of the old prison.

With nothing but the orange light of the fires to illuminate the path the entire area seemed ominous and dim, proving Katrina's idea of the place having a haunted aura about it. Even the air seemed thick, maintaining the desert's heat but also choking the travelers with a presence that was almost paranormal.

Link trekked through the passage first, guiding everyone through the next room and around the quicksand that he had mentioned before their entry. As they circled around it Renée took a gander at the walls, where carved images were caught in the glow of the torches that hung throughout the room. What the illustrations were explaining was difficult to tell, but she presumed that they were depicting some sort of dramatic, historical event.

"I can kinda get what Katrina means now," Mekial started as they crossed into the next room, which was so dark that Link had to pull out his lantern for them to see where they were going. "This place _is _creepy."

Something tickled the side of his neck and he whipped around with a start, only to surprise Dijonay, who had inched closer to him so as to avoid a sandpit that had been caught in the glow of Link's lamp. "S-sorry."

Torches appeared in the next room, permitting Link to tuck away his own little light and in the following passages tall statues greeted them, each of them carved to resemble a narrow-eyed woman with a snake curling around her body or over her arms and shoulders.

"L-Link…" Dijonay called as she shrank beneath one of the stone females, fearing that her slim, carved eyes were glued to her as she walked by. "Where is the exit?"

"We're almost there." Link kept his eyes forward as he spoke, and craned his neck to observe the next vast chamber that they walked into. A dusty chandelier was dangling from the high-vaulted ceiling, creaking and unlit, and a cool blue glow was cast by the blue flames that surrounded the staircase leading to the exit on the room's opposing end.

Mekial surveyed the place darkly, his skin prickling and stomach churning. When his sister asked if he was all right his face twisted a bit more, like he was soon going to vomit. Renée's concern heightened.

"The air feels heavy," he mumbled, his gaze moving from the dark walls and sand pits that littered the floor over to the blue flames that flickered on pedestals beside the stairs. "Like something's weighing down on us."

A flash shot through Renée's eyes at this observation and she scanned the room once more. She had noticed a sense of death about it upon arrival, but other than that she felt nothing tangible. Even so, she had heard countless ghost stories that stated that the presence of otherworldly spirits often thickened the atmosphere to the point of suffocation.

She could kind of sense something, she finally admitted to her sibling as they climbed the stone steps. "But you might notice it more because you're a mage."

Mekial considered this silently.

As Link ascended the steps that led out of the room, he cast his eyes to the azure flames hovering beside him. He could still remember the tall Poe ghosts that had flown in and swung these fires into their lanterns. He could still remember their gaunt, dead faces as if they were Shadows that had taken on some kind of mystic form. And their scent, like rotten flesh mixed with mold and damp soil.

It had been stuck in his nose for weeks.

Pushing the memories aside Link made his way through the dark tunnel and entered the next room, which was just as tall as the last. But in contrast it was circular and in the holes of its tiled floor spur gears of various sizes could be spotted.

Lifting his eyes from them Link looked towards the side of the room where an entire wall was missing. Beyond the enormous gap was a set of spiral stairs that rounded the wall of the next room and after recalling where it led, he approached it.

At the top of the steps he ascended the ramp that led to another doorway, which opened up into a massive chamber that tunneled upward. Crossing the lone bridge that spanned the entire room he came upon the exit and without even casting his eyes at the inscriptions and drawings etched into the walls around it, he stepped out.

Here heat rolled into them again as they walked back outside, where they found themselves to be standing at the top of the Arbiter's Grounds. Arched openings in the side of this passage looked out into the flowing hills of the Gerudo Mesa and winding up to their left was yet another spiral staircase.

Link followed the stairs first, leading the others up and around the exterior of the prison until they reached a demolished wall. Passing through here allowed them entry into an open-air atrium that boasted six equidistant spires, each of them bearing a different elemental symbol at their peaks. Down in the center of the room was a little stage and at its top was the frame of a mirror that once was.

Link approached it, climbing up the stairs until he was standing in front of the gate that had once connected his world to that of an old friend's. From it, his gaze shifted to a large slab of ebony rock that sat in the sand before him, its tall, wide face smooth and blank.

"What is that?" Dijonay asked, staring at the same colossal stone.

"It was the gate that I had mentioned before," Zelda responded. "With the help of a mirror that had once been in that frame" – she gestured to the empty object Link was in front of – "it had connected this world to the realm of Twilight beyond."

Behind her Morbex gawked at the rock with newfound admiration. Never before had he thought that he would lay eyes on the very gate that had sealed away the relatives of his ancestors.

"Have you ever been in there, Your Highness?" Dijonay went on, looking to Zelda out of the side of her eye. "Link said he has."

"No." Zelda raised her chin so that the sealed gateway could better fit into her vision. "I have not."

"This is amazing," Brent breathed, stepping further into the Mirror Chamber. He tilted his head back to view the tops of the spires that surrounded them then dropped his eyes to the great rock in the very center of the room. "It's like being a part of history."

"Wait 'til everyone in Taranis hears about this, right?" Renée mused and Brent, still gaping up at the room, only nodded in response.

Mekial, with his eyes squinting through the bright glare of the desert sun, turned his stare to the tops of the spires and instantly felt his body stiffen. Shivers raced up and down his spine in spite of the terrible heat and his eyes widened, then circled to observe the tops of the other columns. Link, too, turned his eyes in the same direction then called for the princess to join him on the platform.

At the sound of his request the woman looked at him, then let her gaze jump to the spires to find that at the top of each of them a celestial being was standing, their white robes glowing mystically and rings of light hovering over their heads and under their robed feet. The masks that floated over their absent faces were tilted down to the humans below, emotionless and eyes half-lidded and they watched as Zelda joined Link on the stone stage.

Renée seized Brent's arm and shook it, amazed and horrified all at once. Brent barely noticed her action, and was only able to gape up at the beings he had only since read about before.

Katrina stepped further into the Mirror Chamber, her mind dredging up the many supernatural stories that her parents had told her on the Corva Isles. Even as a child she had dismissed the tales as simple fantasies, but now she wished she could apologize to her family for ever having doubted them.

"We are pleased to see you again, Princess Zelda," the Sage above the symbol of light greeted, spreading its arms. Like the other Sages its large hands were not attached to its body, but instead drifted a couple of inches away from the hem of its sleeve. "And you as well, Link." It lowered its arms gracefully. "How kind of you both to visit us."

"The pleasure is all ours," Zelda replied, taking a step forward. "But unfortunately, our visit is not one of light purpose."

"Yes…" The Sage released an eerie hum. "It has come to our attention that there are a number of issues currently plaguing this country. Even the entire world." It turned its face to the Sage on its left, revealing the black hole in its skull that was usually hidden by the mask floating in front of it.

"We heard the anguished cries of the people during the attack on the capital," the next creature continued, drawing attention towards it, "and we have heard the land ripped apart by Holes."

"I actually came to ask you about those Holes," Zelda pointed out, her gaze sliding between the two Sages. "I wanted to ask you if you knew the reason for their existence." They were yet another thing plaguing her already disquieted country and she hoped that the Sages had a way of ridding them. If she could remove the threat of Holes from Hyrule, perhaps she would be that much closer to regaining control of her homeland.

"We were told that the reason they've appeared is because of the imbalance in the Triforce," Link piped up. "Is that true?"

Behind them Morbex stepped closer to the platform, looking from one Sage to another in anticipation of their answer.

"The Triforce holds no responsibility for the land's destruction," the being over the symbol of green earth replied and Morbex's heart clenched. "But rather, they have come as a result of a violation; specifically concerning a pact that had been made centuries ago, between the three great goddesses and a civilization across the sea."

"What civilization?" Morbex broke in, unable to contain himself any longer.

The Sage observed him silently. "They are called the 'Fenri'," it told him, "the silver-haired people of northern Eldonis."

Morbex felt everyone's attention drop to him, but rather than turn to meet their stares he simply lowered his face, anger pooling in his crimson irises.

He had always been taught that breaking the Pact of Ramon was the same as sentencing all of Eldonis to destruction, but never before had he believed that such a thing could affect the entire world.

How could Malbex be so selfish? How could he set out knowing he was violating the Pact and yet not care that his actions would only destroy everything he wanted to grasp?

"Did Malbex know about the Pact and its consents?" Zelda inquired of the fuming prince, recalling the tale that Link had reported to her in the castle's audience chamber.

"He is aware." Morbex marched further into the chamber. "It was his initial goal to void it."

"At the cost of destroying his people?" Zelda's voice was filled with disdain and a dash of disbelief. "And mine?" When Morbex did not answer she tore her eyes from him and returned them to the Sages to find out how they would react. But Morbex spoke first.

"Sages," he called and he placed a hand on his chest. "I am Morbex Cohen Zenor, Crown Prince of Eldonis. I am the younger brother of Prince Malbex Sage Zenor, who has violated the Pact of Ramon by leaving Eldonis and working to establish his own kingdom in this world. In the hopes of stopping him, I left my country in pursuit.

"The details surrounding the consequences of Malbex's betrayal are foggy to me, despite my being the heir to the Eldonese throne," he went on. "Is it at all possible for you to tell me of the conditions surrounding the Pact? Or perhaps even a way to reverse what my brother has already done?"

"It is an honor to meet you, Crown Prince Morbex," the Sage over the symbol of shadow spoke up, forcing Morbex to whirl around to find it. "Details surrounding the Pact of Ramon are not classified, so it is a bit of a wonder as to why you were left uninformed."

"Even so," put in the Sage of fire, "we will tell you."

Morbex voiced no reply, but rather readied himself for their explanation with a resolved glow in his cherry stare.

"Surely you know that the Pact was made between King Ramon, whom the Fenri refer to as Ramon the Great, back when the goddesses first threatened to banish the Twili interlopers and their people into another dimension," the Sage of light began. "Before the goddesses could pass judgment, King Ramon stood as a representative of the Fenri tribe and announced that in exchange for isolating themselves from the rest of the world, the divine goddesses would not banish them along with the Twili."

That part was simple. It had been the only thing that the general population of Eldonis had been taught, probably to keep them ignorant of the details in a vain attempt at preventing ambitions like Malbex's from growing. Morbex waited for the Sage to continue.

"The goddesses agreed to the condition," the light Sage carried on, "but decided on the consequences should the agreement be broken."

"Eldonis will suffer great casualties and be ripped asunder should any Fenri make themselves known to the Outside," the earth Sage added, "and any lands that the traitorous Fenri migrate to will suffer the same fate."

"I presume this is a warning of the Holes," Zelda theorized. "Is anything to become of the specific Fenri that violate the Pact?"

"The goddesses themselves vowed to annihilate them," the Sage of light answered remorsefully. "But not before they were to witness the destruction of what they hold dear."

Morbex lowered his eyes at this, clenching a fist at his side as the vision of Eldonis' destruction flashed in his memories.

Link whistled softly. "Those are some goddesses…"

"It is…within reason," Zelda said quietly, pulling Link's attention from the Sages and down to her. "The goddesses have long been known to hold sacred vows and agreements seriously. If you were to make a promise to them and break it, it is their right to pass righteous judgment."

Dijonay's gaze slumped from the spire tops to rest upon Morbex's hunched figure. With the last words of the light Sage ringing in her ears, she turned her eyes up to it. "U-um…" She stepped forth, garnering the wise creature's half-lidded eyes. "You say that the goddesses will annihilate any Fenri that have made themselves known to lands outside of Eldonis. Does this mean," her eyes started to glisten, "that Morbex, too, will suffer?"

"That couldn't be," Mekial burst, his brow furrowing in defiance. "The goddesses are all-knowing, aren't they? They should know why Morbex left – they should know that he's on their side!"

"I know not whether the goddesses will spare the prince based on his motivations," the Sage of light stated candidly. "But as it stands now, young Prince Morbex is indeed liable for breaking the Pact, just as much as Prince Malbex."

"No…" Tears welled up in Dijonay's eyes, blurring everything in her sight. "Please, is there any way to prevent…" She cut off abruptly, her words interrupted by a familiar white haze washing over her vision. Holding her forehead she stumbled back, reeling as her mind tumbled out of the present and into the horrifying images of a possible future.

"There is a way to rid the land of Holes and restore what has been lost," the Sage of shadow proclaimed, having seen Dijonay's shortened sentence as her merely succumbing to her emotions. "With a –"

But then his voice went completely mute.

Renée, Brent, Katrina and Mekial continued to stare up at the Sages, though silence maintained a buzzing rule over their ears. After slipping out of her Foresight, Dijonay looked up and around at the Sages as well, watching in muted confusion as one of them made motions with his arms as if he was explaining something. But no sound came out.

Brent rubbed one of his ears and frowned in perplexity.

"Um…" He dropped his hand and looked at it, then shifted his eyes to the others. "I think I went deaf."

"I don't think so," Renée said, looking between him and the atrium. "Morbex, can you hear them?" Her brown eyes toppled down to the imp, his eyes looking to the Sages with the same confusion that she knew to be in her own. "Morbex?"

The Arkanian took a few steps forward with her hand out, and she lurched back when her fingers bumped into what felt like a smooth wall.

No sooner had she touched the invisible barrier did a current run through it, spreading from where her fingers had touched it and expanding to reveal that it stood like a great rectangular box, caging them in but leaving the way back into the Arbiter's Grounds unguarded behind them.

Renée glanced down at her fingers and back to the shield. "What the h –"

She staggered to the side when Mekial broke past her, slamming his palms against the Proclaimer and sending waves running across it. With his teeth visibly clenched white light engulfed his small hands, burning everyone's eyes as he worked to dismantle the barrier.

"…What is this?" Zelda stared up at the Sages, her eyes jumping from one of their faces to another. "Are they still speaking?"

"I don't know. I can't hear anything." Link, too, stared up at the wise instructors, his eyebrows drawing together.

Morbex continued to stare up at the Sages as well, his puzzlement slowly descending into concern. As his gaze panned towards the left sunlight glanced across something above, something that looked to be a transparent, circular barrier that presently hemmed them all in.

Understanding exploded through the prince's system and he rounded to warn Link and Zelda of what had happened, only to be rendered silent by the quiet sound of leisurely footsteps.

Link's ears tingled and he searched the dusty chamber, hunting for where the noise was coming from. On the ground Morbex's gaze swiveled to the slab of rock and every muscle in his body stiffened as a man emerged from behind it.

Link's blade sang shrilly as he unsheathed it and Morbex's nails dug into his palms.

Malbex looked at each of them as he came out beside the boulder, his scarlet eyes gleaming with a poorly tamed sense of amusement.

Quickly recovering from his appearance Zelda turned her voice to the Sages and called for their aid. But instead of responding to her they just exchanged worried looks, as though they were unsure how or even if they should act.

"My apologies, Your Highness." Zelda's eyes fell back to Malbex, where they narrowed furiously at his taunting behavior. "But they can't hear you."

He walked forward.


	83. Chapter 82

**Chapter Eighty-Two**

Mekial's hands glowed brightly, shooting blasts of energy through the Proclaimer in an effort to imbalance it. But it was much stronger than he had initially anticipated and so with his lips curling over clenched teeth, he shoved out another burst of magic.

Dijonay watched him, gazing blankly at the pure white light shining around his hands and staring at the solid images of her most recent vision. When they had ceased whirring past her eyes, a sickening feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.

"N-no…" The word only barely slipped out of her mouth as she looked beyond the shimmering Proclaimer and into the Mirror Chamber, where Malbex was strolling towards Link and Zelda. Her heart waged war against her ribcage, fighting the stiffening of her muscles and reminding her that this was not her vision.

This was not absolute.

_"No!_" The word came out as a scream this time, loosening her muscles and breaking out just as Mekial's magic reduced the Proclaimer to glimmering dust.

Even as the shield dissolved Dijonay broke into a sprint, blind to any danger as she rushed headlong into the event playing out before her. Mekial shouted for her to stop, only to cut himself short when a dark figure stepped out from behind a part of the ruined wall and blocked her path.

Midnight eyes dark with ferocity, Kelvis glared down at the girl before him. Completely garbed in his armor and shoulder pads, he looked even broader than he already was and thus forced Dijonay to stagger back.

"You made it all too easy," Malbex crooned, still smiling that unnerving smile. "I should thank you."

"Malbex, listen to me!" Morbex launched in, igniting a fire in his brother's blood-red eyes. "We've already done enough: we both have violated the Pact of Ramon, and Miss Alexandria and Tentra are just as much to blame as we are! If you did take the shard of Power from the Deku Tree, you need to return it!

"It's our duty as the princes of Eldonis," Morbex finished grimly. "We need to right the wrongs that we've done against our home, before the rest of the world pays for our mistakes!"

"_'We'_?" Malbex repeated, all the humor falling off his face as he turned his focus on the boy. "_'Our'_?" He looked disgusted. "You mean to say that after all of your defiance, you now choose to count yourself among us?"

"We're all from Eldonis," Morbex could feel the guilt weighing down on him now, pressing in on him from all sides just like the desert heat. "We're all to blame for its destruction. We need to fix it, before the goddesses get rid of whatever's left of it and then move on to destroy us –!"

He broke off when Malbex severed eye contact with him, staring off to the side as his expression took on an absentminded frown.

"Eldonis is destroyed…?" The man's words were quiet, muttered with a sense of surprise mingled with doubt and for a split second Morbex believed that his brother had returned to his senses, that he had finally realized the gravity of what he had done.

"And you say it's our fault?" Malbex removed a glowing object from the inner pocket of his robe and held it up, letting golden light swim across his face.

Link stepped closer to the edge of the stage so to act as a human shield for the princess. He could not explain it but there was something about Malbex that had suddenly disturbed him, as though his simply holding the shard of Power had sparked something deranged within.

What bothered him even more was the bizarre familiarity of the prince's abrupt change in character, as if he were reliving a battle that he thought he had won over a year ago.

"I don't care."

Morbex faltered at his brother's sharp words, his eyebrows furrowing pleadingly.

"There is nothing in Eldonis that I miss," Malbex continued heatedly, releasing the shard and letting it float beside his face, "nor is there anything there that I would want to remember." He snatched the shard out of the air and the wrath that had lined his words blew full onto his face. "I'll just make a new one."

Morbex waned, aghast. "Malbex… No…!"

But he barely managed another sound before his brother raised a hand with his fingers extended and sent sparks of light firing into the imp's chest.

Morbex's eyes bulged and heat seared through his innards, its strength rising to the point where it was as though his entire body was aflame from within. He grunted with the initial strike, stunned, and then collapsed with a roar of anguish that consumed the air around them.

"_Morbex!_" Link made to rush to the shuddering imp's side, his ears ringing with the boy's gut-wrenching scream, only to stop when he realized that moving would undoubtedly put Zelda in danger next.

Gritting his teeth he brandished his sword and refaced the second prince, and was momentarily stunned when he saw that even as Morbex's older brother, there was not a trace of concern on his face.

"Morbex!" After spotting Malbex's attack and the effect it left on the cursed prince Renée made to run towards him, frightened by the way his small form was abnormally convulsing.

Spotting her movement, Kelvis pulled the ax out of its sheath and held its double-headed end in front of her. She in turn rounded on him, her eyes ablaze with a wrath he had never known such a small being could contain, and she withdrew her own weapon. _"Out of my way!"_

She swung her weapon into his, hard enough to knock it back and grant her the room she needed to pass. Taking advantage of this she did so, and as Kelvis reclaimed the grip on the ax to attack her Mekial conjured up a gale that blew sand into his eyes.

Cursing audibly the man fought to clear his vision, while behind him Renée rushed towards her fallen comrade, sword drawn.

But with a pained yell she crashed into another Proclaimer and fell back, rubbing her nose and glaring daggers up at the ripples that now rolled through the shield.

Taking note of them Zelda whirled around, the astonishment clear on her face when she saw the scene taking place beyond the shield: Renée had climbed to her feet in time to avoid the swipe of an ax, which was carried by an armored man that she did not recognize, and the others were quickly working to grant her support.

Even the Sages had taken to helping, spreading their arms out as they prepared to unleash a spell that would defend the princess's allies below.

Katrina had taken a post off to the side of the battlefield, unleashing a barrage of arrows on their sudden attacker. Brent and Renée took a stand on the frontlines for her, the former flipping, feinting and bashing his Bo into any opening he could get while Renée made any close-range strike she could manage.

But Kelvis' agility proved to be superior as he ducked, parried and dodged their attacks, countering their strikes and letting his armor absorb the hits that he barely managed to avoid.

Finally it was Renée that managed to get a good cut on his mid-section and with a grunt he lurched back, clutching his wound as his eyes blackened with anger.

As Brent bent back into a stance and Renée twirled her sword, his gaze leaped to the side to catch Dijonay and Mekial standing in front of the Proclaimer that contained their remaining allies. Already Mekial had his glowing hands against it, forcing a series of uneven waves to run across the shield's surface.

Without even casting a glance at his previous opponents, Kelvis darted towards them.

Realizing his intent Renée tore the dagger out of the sheath on her leg and threw it at him, and her heart sank when the weapon barely ripped right by his side.

Katrina moved next, loading her bow with three arrows and firing away. One missed Kelvis' ankle, another clanked against his shoulder pad and the final whistled right in front of his face, which made him start – but only for a second.

Dijonay spun around when she heard Kelvis' feet pounding through the sand and her lips parted with a scream. Mekial turned as well, his eyes wide as Kelvis raised his weapon to strike them down.

He didn't even get the chance to defend himself.

"Mek –!" Renée's yell barely made it passed her lips when six columns of light surged out of the sky, digging into the dirt around Kelvis and surrounding him like the bars of a heavenly cage.

Startled by this Kelvis lowered his weapon, squinting through the blinding glare of the lights that closed him in so that he could see the Sages, their arms dropping with the completion of their incantation.

Renée also directed her eyes to the beings, her eyes shimmering with gratitude.

Passing his own grateful look up to the Sages, Mekial once again returned his attention to the Proclaimer, which had regained some of its strength in the time he had been distracted.

"M-Mekial…!" Dijonay's voice was hysterical. "_Hurry!_"

"I know, I know –" he snapped, only to glimpse why she was so worked up.

Malbex's hand was extended towards Link and Zelda and a short pillar of light had grown to consume them, burning so brightly that the two were forced to look away.

Link squinted and when the glow vanished he blinked the stars from his vision to find that a ring of intersecting markings and unrecognizable symbols had appeared beneath his and Zelda's feet. He made to shift to the side to get a better look at it, and with panic seizing him he became aware of the fact that no matter how much he willed for it, his body would not move.

Malbex's fingers curled as if he was clutching something and with that movement a strange pressure grew in the chests of the hero and princess.

Zelda paled as Malbex's fingers coiled closer to his palm and she choked when the weight pushing against her torso increased, almost as if it were trying to push its way inside of her. Her heartbeat quickened, but with every pulse that it made its strength declined, as though the presence around it was subduing its ability.

She could have screamed; she could have yelled and doubled over with the agony ripping through her but no matter how strong the desire was, no matter how powerful the pain, her body would not obey.

A similar, probing grip worked its way into Link as well, steering against his will until it managed to break inside of him. Instantly he felt like he was being suffocated: with every breath he took his lungs would quickly try to draw in more air as if it would help him survive.

His teeth clenched and his jaw locked as he struggled to fight the force invading him, using what was left of his diminishing strength to tear himself free of Malbex's attack.

But when the prince's hand snapped into a fist both Link and Zelda gasped, their vision immediately fogging as a bright and golden light exuded itself from their chests.

"Mekial!" Dijonay wailed.

"I know! I'm going, I'm going! Stop yelling!" Mekial discharged another surge of magic, forcing a little tidal wave across the Proclaimer's surface. The shield was much stronger than the one that had blocked them near the exit, he thought to himself, and Dijonay's constant shouts were not making the process of destroying it go any faster.

Half a second later his face smashed into the shield when a gust of wind blew into him from behind.

Dijonay stumbled forward as well, using the barrier to break her fall, and in unison they looked back to see that Kelvis had been the one to conjure the artificial wind. When they had turned to glare at him the man released another powerful airstream, pressing them up against the Proclaimer so forcibly that they could barely even move.

Mekial let loose a feral growl and with great effort swung an arm out at the prisoner, creating his own wind that blew into him; but the man did not even lose his footing.

"Ignore him!" Dijonay cried as Kelvis made another gale that shoved them against the barrier yet again. She coughed. "Please, Mekial!"

With a disgruntled snarl Mekial once again pressed his hands against the Proclaimer, already weakened by the amount of strength he had previously pushed out and nearly swooning at the thought of having to emit even more now that the barrier had once again regained its strength. Kelvis' blasts of wind did little to console him.

Fighting against the little windstorms Dijonay stood in front of her bodyguard, widening her stance and hiding her face behind the 'X' that her arms formed. With her hair and clothes flapping wildly in each gust she stood her ground, praying that she was at least protecting her guard enough for him to focus.

Renée scooped up the dagger that she had thrown earlier as she dashed towards her fellow Arkanians with Brent and Katrina. Even as she made to join them something moved in her side vision and she threw her eyes to the right, where for a split second, she thought she had seen someone moving.

Ignoring the assumption she, Katrina and Brent came up to the side of the Proclaimer where they had a clear view of their allies and Malbex. Their eyes dropped to a fallen figure beside the stage where they remembered Morbex to have been standing, but rather than the blue-skinned imp they remembered, someone else was lying there.

Tall and pale-skinned, his bright, silver bangs masked his closed eyes. Donning a white swallowtail jacket that bore the image of a scepter on its back and a pair of dark pants, he was already covered in a thin layer of dust. But it could not hide his silver headpiece, which glinted in the sunlight.

The three recognized it at the same time, and Renée thumped her fists against the soundproof barrier. "Morbex –!"

"_No!_"

Renée's eyes flitted over to Mekial before they jumped up to Link and Zelda on the raised platform, just in time for her to watch as Malbex yanked his fist back, ripping Courage and Wisdom right out of them.

And she watched, mouth ajar, as the pieces of the Triforce silently drifted towards Malbex's outstretched hand.

Yelling in outrage, Mekial unleashed enough strength for the Proclaimer to disintegrate. Dijonay dropped her arms and spun around when she saw the shield's glittering fragments, and her heart lodged into her throat when she saw the wish-granting remnants that now hovered inches away from Link and Zelda's bodies.

And in that moment everything seemed to slow to a crawl, from the speed at which she ran towards Link and Zelda to the sight of them toppling to the ground like a pair of rag dolls.

She dropped down beside them, hands trembling as she shook each of them and pleaded with them to awaken. They felt so cold, as if they had been dead for days, and their skin was so pale, such a deathly white…

"Wake up!" She grabbed Link's shoulders, shaking him as best she could with her quivering hands. "Wake up, don't… You…_you have to wake up!_" A sense of déjà vu barraged her and a sob wracked through her body. "Wake…" her face crumpled and her voice grew strained as tears spilled from her eyes and plopped onto Link's whitened face, "wake up…"

"Princess!" The Sages, now able to interfere with the Proclaimer gone, once again spoke the verses of another spell to strike down the man that dared to harm the blessed ruler of Hyrule.

Mekial, greatly weakened by his feats thus far sagged to one knee with his head bowed. Renée slumped to her knees as well, her eyes watering as Dijonay's futile pleas rang in her ears, forever imprinted into her thoughts. Beside her Katrina staggered, battling to accept what was laid out before her.

She could remember all the times she had wished for Link's death, wished for him to suffer the same demise that he had given to her people.

But she knew he had not been the one who had hurt her. And just knowing that while looking at his corpse made her feel strange.

Lost.

Livid.

The very rage that had consumed her on the night of the Isle Massacre, the same fury that had bubbled within her at the very mention of Malbex or Tentra's name boiled over within her, distorting her features to the point where she barely looked human.

Her arms flexed and the knives beneath her sleeves extended, silver daggers of retribution, and she tore through the sand with a deranged roar, eyes of blood thirst fixed on Malbex.

Brent did not even stop her but rather joined her, Bo staff bared and copper eyes ablaze with the same wrath.

Renée barely noticed them leave her side, but when a faint stir of motion came from behind her she spun around to see Morbex slowly coming back to his senses. He groaned softly and she returned to herself and reached towards him.

"Morbex…!"

Her hands touched his back, preparing to help him to his feet and in the same instant they both looked up, Renée's eyes still glistening and Morbex's vision still hazy, to find a lone, silver-haired being standing near the atrium's edge.

Morbex's mind stumbled into clarity as he recognized the man and before Renée could meet his dimming red irises he pushed the girl away.

And so Tentra's darkened eyes fell to Morbex.

"Agh!"

"Gugh!"

Brent and Katrina tumbled backward when Malbex countered their attacks with an effortless spell. Brent's thoughts seemed to clear, giving him the chance to rethink his strategy, while Katrina simply sprang back to her feet and charged again, screaming venomously. This man would pay.

He would pay for everything he put her through.

_For father…_

Her muscles tightened, forcing her knives out another inch.

_Mother…_

Malbex did not even seem to care for her approach, his greedy eyes leering at three golden objects that were floating out of Link's belt pouch.

_Keagan…_

Her twelve-year-old brother's face flashed in her mind, the horrified look in his eyes before he had been torn apart by a Shadow forever imprinted in her memories.

_Ellie…_

Her sister had only been eight when she had been killed. _Eight._

And Katrina would kill Malbex for her.

_For all of them –!_

She barely registered the pain when her body was blown back, slamming her against a corner of the stage that Link and Zelda's bodies rested on. She didn't even feel the tears in her eyes.

And so with her sense of judgment blackened she scrambled up again, ready to launch in for another attack, only to freeze up when she saw a large, golden triangle hovering in front of Malbex.

It was bigger than the ones that had been yanked out of Link and Zelda she realized, and soon she saw that this triangle was actually made of three smaller ones. Even as she looked at the topmost part of it the shards that had formed it sealed together, making it look like the shards of Power had never even existed.

The next thing she saw was that Malbex had his hand on it.

And he was blind to all else, his face marred by a devilish grin as his palm rested against the Triforce's smooth, warm surface.

_Finally…_

He had done it. After all this time…

He had finally succeeded.

"_Gods!"_ he roared and as if it were amplifying his voice a powerful windstorm blew out of the Triforce, filling the Mirror Chamber and rushing up into the sky, dissolving the cage that had barred Kelvis and washing the Sages away with its godly might.

"I void the pact that King Ramon made between you and the Fenri," Malbex cried up to the heavens and more gales erupted from the relic before him, blowing into everyone but himself and forcing them back, "that I might erect a new Eldonis in the Outside – an Eldonis that blends my mundane culture with those of the lands that Ramon was so fearful of seeing!

"Hear me, gods!" he yelled, the vein in his neck popping out as he forced his voice to be heard over the strengthening gusts. "Grant my wish!"

Suddenly everything fell silent, as though the goddesses were mulling over the contents of Malbex's desire. Then the Triforce flashed brightly, sending forth a blinding glare that forced everyone to shield their eyes with an arm.

When the light faded the Triforce remained, and nothing in the area had changed.

Kelvis glanced around the chamber wordlessly.

As she, too, looked about a shiver ran up the back of Renée's neck and she turned around to find Morbex standing at his full height behind her.

Unlike the others he was not observing the area but instead his familiar, cherry eyes were cold and distant – almost dazed.

Katrina's shoulders rose and fell with each pant, her jade eyes staring through the ends of her bangs as she examined the atrium. Then her breathing grew louder, her heaving shoulders more apparent, and her attention refocused on Malbex, who had taken on a sinister grin of satisfaction.

And she yelled again and broke into a run, knives raised to slash the look right off his face.

Her mind went blank when she suddenly froze, as if each of her muscles had decided to seize up. Barely had she gotten the time to react when she was suddenly flung backward, tumbling through the sand until her body came to a halt in front of Mekial, who looked up confusedly. Malbex had not attacked her that time.

"Don't kill him."

Renée turned her attention from Katrina and back to Morbex when he spoke. His voice was deeper, less childish, and now that she looked at him again there was something else different about him, something that made her take a troubled step back.

"Don't kill him?" Katrina spat as she got back to her feet. Fire seemed to flare up in her eyes. "I warned you… I warned you that the day I saw him again, I would kill him!" Blinded by fury she rushed forward again, only to let out a startled gasp when Morbex looked at her, freezing her in place.

And again she was thrown back.

"Don't harm him." Morbex took a stand in front of his elder sibling, and though his face was tranquil his words came across as powerful and demanding. "The Pact has been voided. There's no reason to fight him anymore."

Renée's jaw dropped. "You've gotta be kidding –"

"Actually, I don't think he is." The new voice was jubilant and light, breaking Renée's concentration and leading her eyes off to the side, where the man she had seen earlier was now stepping forth. She did not know whether it had been a trick of the shade he had been in before, but for some reason his eyes were not as dark. "Are you, Prince Morbex?"

"No." Morbex did not let his eyes waver towards Tentra when he spoke. His attention did not even tremble when Kelvis circled around the others to join him, Tentra and Malbex beside the Triforce.

"Morbex," Brent stepped forward, "what about your home? You said Eldonis had been destroyed!"

"Then we have no choice but to make a new one," Morbex answered simply, but there was still a cloud of sorrow that hung in his eyes. "We'll use the countries that Malbex has already conquered."

"But the people," Dijonay spoke up from the stage, her eyebrows crinkling. "And your family –"

"It would have been nice for them to see that Malbex is capable of ruling a kingdom," Morbex thought aloud, missing the true meaning behind Dijonay's words. "But there's nothing that can be done about that now. I told Link before." His eyes tightened. "I don't even know if they're still alive."

Dijonay could not deny the ache that grew in her heart at the very thought of Morbex's entire family being dead, and the blame for it all being on him. But still.

Something was wrong with his theory. Something…twisted.

"Morbex –" She cut off suddenly, crumbling beneath the look of remorse that his gaze had softened into.

"Miss Dijonay. Please."

"They're going to keep defying us," Malbex told his brother from behind him, narrowing his eyes at them. "They'll take down our kingdom if we let them survive."

Morbex peered at him out of the side of his eye and in spite of the nagging feeling in the back of his mind, he found himself agreeing. Malbex was right.

In fact he had been right to do this all along, from his escape of Eldonis to the wish that he had just made. Perhaps he had destroyed Eldonis in the process, but that had not been his fault. It was not as though he had meant to do it.

Even his brother cursing him had been the right thing to do. If he had not done it Morbex probably would have died in Eldonis, unable to realize his brother's dream and start their country anew.

Still, he could not hide the shame that filled his red gaze as he fixed his attention on the people before him, the ones that had been the first besides Kelvis to call him a friend.

He wanted them to convert like he did, to join his brother's side with him.

But Malbex was right.

"I…" Morbex stretched his arms out in front of him, light blinking around his hands. Then he spread them out as though to offer an embrace, and before the light in front of him could increase to a blinding glare Dijonay spotted the grief welling in his eyes.

_"I'm sorry."_

The light brightened, singeing his former companions' eyes and they ducked away from it, their bodies burning in its warmth as it devoured them and whitened their surroundings.

The brighter the glow got the stronger the heat became, blazing across their skin, and their cries were swallowed by a piercing whine that sounded all around them, its pitch rising to the point where their ears were ready to burst.

Then everything exploded into darkness.

The entire building seemed to shake with the detonation and the stage that held the Twilight Mirror's frame broke down into a pile of rubble. The Sages' empty spires trembled, letting loose sand rain down into the chamber and heavy winds burst in every which direction.

Morbex's arms flopped to his sides as the black smoke cleared before him, revealing the scattered remains of the Mirror frame and the chamber's crumbling walls. His eyes scanned the destruction briefly. Not even a body remained.

And for some reason, no matter how much he felt the need to cry, he could not.


	84. Interlude

**Interlude**

"Dear _Farore_…"

Dijonay's eyelids quivered and she moaned as the strange voice filtered into her consciousness. There was a sigh that followed it, which was paired with the sound of a faint grunt as someone stretched their tired muscles.

The prime minister's face lolled to the side, leaving her cheek to push up against something soft. With a soft groan she finally parted her eyelids, peering blearily at what she was lying on.

The ground was dark, almost pitch black. And though it looked like soil there was something spongy about it, as if it were not real earth at all. As her vision cleared she registered the presence of faint black squares rising from the ground, pivoting and spiraling as they ascended towards the red and black sky above.

"What did Farore make these humans with, a ton of bricks?" the voice from before complained and Dijonay shot up, wide-eyed as it dawned on her that she was no longer in the Gerudo Mesa.

Her eyes rose, finding the egg-shaped face of the woman that had been speaking. Much to the girl's surprise her skin was light blue and her eyes were a bright red that sparkled with child-like playfulness. With her long orange hair tied together beneath her collar bone she was rather tall and was clothed in a long, black and blue cape, along with a two-piece dress that revealed her mid section and right leg.

The Arkanian blinked, taken aback by the woman's appearance and wondering how in the world she had wound up in her presence.

"Good to see you're awake." The woman smiled down at her. "As for the others, I think they might've hit their heads a bit harder than you did."

Dijonay only stared at her with her mouth dangling shamelessly. Then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

From behind the tall woman another being stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the human. He was shorter with an alien-like appearance, from his lopsided red eyes to the glowing symbols that marked his black and blue skin. "I think you may have given her a fright, Princess Midna."

The woman, Midna, released an extended sigh. "They're so easily scared." She turned her eyes towards the other humans that were lying on the ground beside Dijonay and she placed a fist on her hip. "Take them all to the infirmary," she ordered of the group of Twili that was with her. "It looks like they all hit their heads."


	85. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

In my 10-11 years of writing, I gotta say I am very proud of myself with this, even if it's just a fanfic/practice novel lol.

And thanks for all you guys' support, too! I mean, you guys can't see it but my traffic graph says that this story has over 14,000 views and counting.

I'm so happy I could cry :'D

**Anyway, the story's not over yet! _Covenant _continues in its sequel, _Rebirth_.**

Just check out my profile to get to it - I think that's easier than trying to paste the link here :D

And like I said before, this is a practice novel - so feedback is greatly appreciated!


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